Heimatfront Episode Two: Baptism of Fire
by CaptainDavidBlake
Summary: Central Germany, early April, 1945. After having repaired the tanks as they were ordered to, the girls of Baderberg receive a new and potentially dangerous mission: deliver them to a Panzergrenadier unit defending Germany from the Allied onslaught. This apparently simple task will bring the girls into a collision course with Fate.
1. Overture

DISCLAIMER

1 - This is a fanwork made for fun and to spread the love for all things _Girls Und Panzer_ and History around. _Girls Und Panzer_ belongs to its legal owners, as well as its characters and story. Also the show is awesome and you should really buy the DVDs.

2 - I need to thank BlueJay62, F-14 Tomcat Lover, Kite Tanril, Soviet Fox, Theralion, Yemi Hikari and the helpful guys at the Girls Und Panzer FaceBook group for all the help and support. The good parts of this fic only exist thanks to them. The bad parts, though, are all mine.

* * *

I

OVERTURE

The evening was nearing its end. As the sun approached its hideout under the horizon the day started to get colder and mist emerged from the land, at first timidly, but rapidly threatening to grow thicker by the minute.

While the evening had dragged on for hours under that clouded sky, the girls from Baderberg had worked hard on their collection of machines of war, readying the tanks for their first true march, the one in which they would finally hand them to the men who needed their weapons and thick armor. Although the vehicles had already been thoroughly rebuilt, tested and verified time and again, it was felt that a last revision wouldn't do any harm.

And so Maria saw herself in the center of the action, giving orders and steering the work team in what would be the last time they did that kind of work. Enthusiastic as she was with the whole situation, Anja had managed to gather a handsomely large group to help with the final preparations. As expected, everything was in order, and all issues found were minor and quite easy to fix.

After the hectic revision the tanks were brought outside, in a cacophony of rumbling engines and shrieking treads which exploded in the otherwise silent evening, their guns and armor glittering under the darkening sky. Slowly, the drivers brought them to the plaza just behind the entry gates, where the vehicles now stood in line, all the engines purring while idling. The 38(t) was commanding the column while at the tail was a single Boxer truck, in which the girls would travel back to Baderberg once their mission was completed.

Satisfied with the column's appearance, Anja approached _Führerin_ Schon. Although the weather was getting colder and the mist denser most girls of the complex, even those not involved in the restoration of the tanks, were watching the departure, some from the windows in the nearby buildings some outside, trembling but curious nonetheless.

Among them was Maria, who walked away from the tanks once she'd felt her work to be done. Now her glance seemed to be lost in some point beyond the tanks and the buildings nearby.

Her mind was still filled with doubt and several threads of thought fought against each other, measuring their respective weights, considering what could happen in the next hours. She still knew of Anja's plans, and she also knew how shocking the reality behind them would be to the girls coming along with her. If possible, Maria would prefer to stay well away from all of it.

And yet, she couldn't simply turn away, because there were other issues at stake there.

While her mind wandered, Schon was giving her final orders to Anja. They were now looking at a map Schon had spread over the flank of the 38(t).

"You will fuel at the police station in the next town. Then you'll travel north to meet the 77th _Panzergrenadiers_." She pointed at a series of roads which should lead the column through some of calmer areas of the region. "Once you've delivered the tanks to _Oberst_ Messner bring the girls back in the truck."

"Sounds easy enough..." Anja replied, her eyes fixed on the map as to not betray her excitement.

"Should be. If, for some reason, you find any enemies, you are ordered to abandon the tanks."

Honestly, Anja wasn't expecting to hear those orders. Needless to say, she also had no intention of obeying them. She turned to Schon. "Abandon them? Just like that?"

"Just like that." The leader nodded. "Try to damage them as you can with the time you might have. Of course as you'll be travelling under the guise of the night you won't probably find any problems on your way, but one can never be too careful."

Travelling during the night was the usual _modus operandi_ at that stage of the war. The overwhelming Allied air superiority had little trouble in making piecemeal of any armored column found travelling during the day. Schon wrapped the map and gave it to Anja.

"Understood, _meine Führerin_." Anja then turned on her heels and walked around the column. Maria observed from the midst of the small group standing on the opposite side of the plaza as Anja made a last inspection of all vehicles, including the truck. The crews were peeking through the hatches and doors either observing what she was doing or saying something to the girls who would stay behind.

Among them were the friends Maria had done during her in that farming complex; the enthusiastic Ysabelle, the lively Simone and the drowsy Meike aboard the _Panzer _IV, and the graceful Hanna in the truck in the tail of the column. What would be of them if something did happen? Could them and the others take care of themselves if something broke or, God forbid, they did indeed came in contact with an enemy with hostile intent?

It was impossible for her to ignore the side glance Anja send in her general direction when she reached the middle of the column, after having already inspected everything on the opposite side and turned around the truck. Maybe she was simply observing the crowd, but Maria couldn't avoid feeling she was passing judgment on her in some way. The last words they're traded regarding Anja's plans were still fresh to Maria.

And then she noticed Anja had indeed locked her eyes on her and with her index finger signaled for Maria to come closer. There was a seriousness to her expression that Maria really couldn't place. She'd only seen it two or three times and didn't really like to remember those moments. So she approached the sub-leader with a certain degree of nervousness.

"I just wanted to know," Anja began to say once Maria was beside her. Her voice was almost a whisper like if she was afraid of being heard, and the rumbling of the engine nearby didn't made hearing her any easier, "you still don't want to come with us, now do you?"

So it was that again… Anja still believed all effort was important to help save the German people from the hell the crazed leadership had brought upon them. If somehow that small group managed to gain the Fatherland even one more day, that could be the difference between saving uncountable lives or allow for their people to be slaughtered by the enraged invaders.

But would any effort make any difference in the end? Because after the war, after the unavoidable defeat, there would be the occupation. Could a single day, if they even managed to gain that much, be of any worth in such scenario?

"I…" Maria sighed, her breath a small cloud of vapor in front of her face. "You know what I think about this."

Anja nodded, at first seemingly accepting her words. Then she spoke again.

"What if I tell Schon something about how you've learned about tanks and all of your other illegal hobbies?"

She finished her question with a venomous smirk that chilled Maria to the bone. Did somehow managed to learn about what her father had taught her? Maria couldn't imagine what Schon and the other leaders could or would do if Anja gave them that information, but it they wouldn't certainly stand by anything less than expelling her out of the League. And then she would to deal with the fallout, including her mother's reaction when she discovered everything.

"You wouldn't…" Maria hissed, still in shock. Anja shrugged.

"The thing is," she opened her arms, "if you come with us then I will have no reason to think you're anything less than a proud servant of the Party and probably any suspicions to the contrary would simply be forgotten. Funny how the memory works…"

Curious about what was keeping her second-in-command; Schon walked around the column and approached the two girls talking besides the STuG III.

"Is something wrong?" She asked. Anja shook her head before replying.

"_Fräulein_ Nitzschmann here came to ask me if she could join us after all. I think it's being hard for her to stay away from the tanks." Her smirk was as yellow as they came. "After all she invested so much time and effort in them it's being a difficult separation. It's like if they're her babies or something."

_Babies?_ Was Anja insane? Maria couldn't hide the bewilderment that took hold of her mind.

"I asked you to take as little personnel as possible, Königsberg." Schon was completely serious this time.

"I know, _meine Führerin_." Anja replied, her voice leveled and her expression serious this time. "But taking into account her expertise I think it would help us greatly if she came with us after all."

With a hand in her chin, Schon considered her point for a few seconds.

"Very well. _Fräulein_ Nitzschmann isn't really prepared for any other task, anyhow. You'll be responsible for finding her a post once this is over with."

Anja enthusiastically raised her right hand, fingers extended. Her plan was working and the leader seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact.

"I will do as ordered, _Führerin_!"

"Very well. Now move." Schon's voice was level and absolutely calm. Considering the situation dealt with Anja started walking to the 38(t), although not before giving a last side glance to Maria, a hint of a feline grin on her face.

Truth be told, Maria had a moment to really think through what she could do. Of course she could simply consider Anja's threats a little more than that, a way to pull her stings. After all she couldn't really know her most well-kept secrets, could she? She wasn't a psychic as far as Maria knew!

Her glance scooped the line of tanks in front of her before descending over the _Panzer_ IV, immediately behind the Czech machine. Simone and Ysabelle were peeking to see what was happening. Seeing the two girls brought her a sudden realization.

She had friends in there. If things really went south would Anja really be able to take care of them? Would she?

At that moment she realized those girls, mere strangers little more than a month ago, now meant something to her. Maria had-

"Why are you idling, Nitzschmann?" Schon asked Maria, an inquisitive look in her face. The girl actually felt intimidated by her question.

"Yes, yes! I'm going!"

She walked to the _Panzer_ IV, for some reason, and held to the mudguard to climb. Then Simone extended her a hand.

"Are you coming with us, Maria?" She asked her. Maria mumbled something, nodded, and accepted her help. Once she was on top of the tank Ysabelle turned to her.

"Oh, you are! That's so cool!" The excited girl yelped. Maria couldn't help but smile at her.

And then she glanced at the small tank in front of hers, to Anja, already sat on the command hatch and glaring at her with that vicious smirk. Felling defeated, Maria sat over the engine cover with a blank stare.

With her rooster now complete Anja barked an order to her driver followed by a circular gesture with her index finger. One by one the tanks started rolling out, passing through the open gates at the entrance and moving in line across the worn-out path leading to the nearby village.


	2. Metal Crüe

AUTHOR'S NOTES

One of the issues related with writing historical fiction is that if the author wishes to add strong military female figures he might find some cultural obstacles to it. Older cultures, and even the current ones for the most part, aren't very fond of women in the battlefield, in spite of the punctual exception. So our heroines of old will necessarily face a great deal of skepticism and outright obstacles to their dreams of glory.

In this specific case, the Fascist societies were quite adamant regarding gender roles. This brings up the question of what kind of circumstances would provide them the opportunity to fight alongside the men?

* * *

II

METAL CRÜE

Bärenstein was a rather small village set on the lower part of an uneven plane, where the hills around Baderberg started to give way to the open spaces of Central Germany. It was also close to an important road heading north. Because of the lack of space in the village proper and the proximity of the important lane, the police station had been built closer to the road itself.

Its location helped the mission of the Baderberg girls in several ways. First, it had its own fuel depot, a large metal cylinder, containing what were probably the last remains of petrol in the entire region, the farming complex notwithstanding, as well as a small reserve of diesel in metal cans. Secondly, it was far enough from the village to avoid any undesired looks.

With the trails around Baderberg in the sorry state they were and due to some slight delays the girls took a little more than planned to get to the station. The eventide was drawing long and a wide cold shadow had fallen over the whole landscape as the sun nestled behind the distant mountains. As she approached the building Anja could see the police chief standing in the middle of the road, waiting impatiently while his men leaned against the nearby walls.

More surprising for her, though, were the four teenagers standing with their bicycles near the station. Erwin and Caesar had brought two more friends with them and they watched as the tanks rolled past them and halted in front of the building. Why were they there at all she could only start to guess.

But there were more pressing matters at the moment, as Anja realized when she saw the incredulous look in the police chief's face.

"Good morning, _Herr_ Steiner." Anja told him, trying to look and sound as solemn as possible from her vantage point in the 38(t)'s command hatch. "Do you have our fuel ready?"

The man didn't reply immediately, looking down the column of armored vehicles and back at the girl commanding all those tons of deadly metal.

"But, you're all girls…" Steiner murmured, still in disbelief.

"_Herr _Steiner, as you were most certainly informed the local BDM grouping was tasked with recovering these tanks." Anja patted the top of the turret to underline her words. "Now the Army needs them and time is of the essence. We don't have the luxury to wait for crews to come by nor to waste time questioning the orders we were given, sir."

"I know of my orders, _Fräulein_." Finding no more words to tackle that specific theme Steiner decided to move directly into the job at hand. "We will spare you all the fuel we have left. There isn't much more to go around in the damned country anyhow. Hope it serves you well."

From her vantage point Anja nodded at him. "It will. The _Wehrmacht_ and the Party thank you and your men."

Steiner snorted and mumbled something before turning back and issuing orders to his men. They started moving around, dragging their equipment along. There was a certain tension and urgency in their movements, the men feeling ashamed that they couldn't, or wanted to, take the initiative to do the same thing those girls were doing. Most of them managed to evade being dragged into the fighting due to their position as policemen, and truly preferred the option of returning home every night to their families.

But now that they saw with their own eyes how deep their country had fallen, how desperate things were and who was actually doing the fighting and the dying, the shame became almost too much to bear. They would prefer to simply finish that task as quickly as possible and never see those tanks and their crews ever again.

Oblivious to the whirlwind of emotions going through the policemen's heads, Anja turned to the rest of the column.

"All right girls, help these nice men fueling the tanks. The drivers remain where they are." And then she descended from the tank. Maria, in spite of everything, was already forming teams to help the policemen, who were obviously untrained to maintain the large combat vehicles.

The boys from Erwin's group decided to put their bicycles against the nearest wall and were also helping, Caesar using a moment to say something to Maria that made her chuckle. Erwin, on the other hand, decided to approach Anja.

"So, you're taking the tanks?" He asked, using a finger to raise the flap of his omnipresent military hat.

"Yes. Why are you here? And this early?" Anja put her hands on her waist and glared at him as if challenging his intentions.

Erwin pointed with his thumb at the nearby policemen, working side-by-side with the BDM girls. "Did you forget? My uncle works here. He told us about this plan of yours during dinner yesterday. They didn't expect for you girls to be doing the driving, but I already know how devious you can be."

"Devious?" Anja crossed her arms. "How dare you?"

"Hey, I'm worrying with you here!" Pouting a little, Erwin put his arms in the pockets of his coat. Like the hat it was also a remembrance of his father's days in North Africa. "You shouldn't go alone. It's dangerous out there."

"We know how to take care of ourselves, thank you." Anja glowered before that statement and walked past Erwin, to the nearest work team, to grab one of the fuel hoses. The policemen who was about to do that staggered due to her sudden movement.

"Yeah, and I believe you. But you should consider that no-one along the way will take you seriously if you don't have at least a man with you." Erwin stated matter-of-factly, coming after the girl. This prompted yet another infuriated outburst from Anja, who threw the hose to the poor policeman observing the whole scene.

"You know that if you come with us you'll get conscripted for real, don't you?"

Decided not to let the policemen do all the work, Erwin grabbed the hose by the middle, so it wouldn't scrape on the ground. With his help, the policeman delivered it to the two girls on top of the StuG III, who took hold of it and finally fixed it on the fuel intake.

"I know that." Erwin replied, giving two steps away from the assault vehicle. He sounded rather accepting of the fact, fatalistic even. His expression soothed Anja a little. Erwin sighed and gestured for Caesar and the other boys to approach him.

"We'll take this one, by the way." And he promptly climbed to the back of the StuG III, along with his friends, to the current crew's shock.

"Hey, this one's ours!" One of the girls, a brunette Bavarian named Tamara, yelled at them.

"Well, now's ours!" As the space over the engine cover wasn't that big to begin with Erwin could bump his chest on hers without looking too menacing. He even made a jocose smile to booth.

"Oh yeah? Then who will drive it, huh?" Tamara bumped Erwin back. "I'll tell you who! It's me!"

"Ahn…" Deciding that he had no reply to that Erwin turned to one of his friends. "Aaron, you join the girls in the M3, they seem to be in need of a hand."

The other boy looked at the back of the column, where the girls crewing the American-built machine managed to drop the fuel hose, which fell over the tarmac with a great racket.

"Oh, Christ!" Aaron exclaimed. "I'm on it!"

He jumped out of the StuG and ran to the M3. On her part Anja was now thinking furiously. She had departed from Baderberg with minimal crews, as per her orders, but that was not nearly enough to properly take the tanks into battle if the chance presented itself. But by allowing the boys into the group she would solve that problem for the most part. It was actually a very elegant way to do so. But it still raised a few issues.

"Very well, Morgenstern." Anja said to Erwin, who smirked at her approval. "Just don't forget who's in charge, got it?"

"What?"

"I'm in charge, idiot! Forget about that and I'll leave you behind on the spot." And to guarantee that he wouldn't reply she turned her back to him and walked to the command tank. It would be the last one to be refueled and thus was where she was now needed.

Although she was doing something she'd always dreamt of, commanding a column of military vehicles right into a hot zone, she was starting to feel uneasy. When the day started she was excited, but then when Maria decided to join in spite of her protests, her words started to ring in Anja's head. She began second-guess herself.

Now with those boys also under her responsibility…

Anja patted the mudguard of the 38(t) and looked back, at the trio of boys and the girl driver dismantling the fuel nozzle. Was the idea of joining the fighting really that good? Would it make any difference in the end?

More importantly, would she be as eager to fight as she once thought when she finally faced the chance?


	3. Simone

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Everyone has dreams, no matter how small. Sometimes, when writing a war story, and the largest events unfold, it becomes easy to overlook this fact. It goes double when the characters in question are secondary to the main plot, and everything they represent becomes unimportant by comparison. But while it's easy to look at a history book or a battle scene in some fantastical conflict and see the numbers as little more than that, in reality each person is the main character of their own story. So, what do all those stormtroopers, redshirts, and so on think and dream to themselves? What is, truly, the value of each one of those lives?

* * *

III

SIMONE

Once the tanks were refueled, the column got once again on the move.

Incidentally, the trip was rather uneventful. From the command hatches of the tanks the designated commanders could see the darkened landscape of their Fatherland, covered by the wide blanket of the night, the forests and the hills barely distinguishable, the few lights lit in the tiny villages in the distance looking almost like stars which had lost their way.

It was a rather depressing sensation that they were forbidden to seeing the green crop fields and forests, and the snow-covered mountains in the distance, because their country was engaged in a war to the last consequences. Under the perils of exposing to the overwhelming enemy forces, they had to travel under the night, hidden in the shadows. And as such there was very little to see, a feeling of hopelessness slowly crawling into their young hearts.

This meant that there was very little to do except slowly driving the vehicles across the road barely illuminated by their headlights. Being so the girls ended up reverting to the only other thing they really knew about apart from their work: singing.

It was Simone who had taken the initiative. She started the trip in the commander's post of the _Panzer_ IV, but little after they've left the police station she decided to move to the radio-operator's position. It was occupied by Ysabelle at the time, but once she heard Simone's idea she squeezed through the hatch and sat against the main gun's mantle, allowing the other girl to slide in.

But a couple hours later, though, Simone was starting to deplete her repertoire of songs. It didn't stop her from trying to keep the morale high.

"All right, one more!" She chirped through the com. "_Wenn wir schreiten Seit' an Seit'_!"

One by one the commanders started to repeat the first verse of the song, taken out of the official song booklet of the League. Shortly later voices started to echo across the radio waves and over the growl of the engines as the girls outside sang on top of her lungs and into the night.

"_Wenn wir schreiten Seit' an Seit'  
Und die alten Lieder singen  
Und die Wälder widerklingen  
Fühlen wir, es muss gelingen:  
Mit uns zieht die neue Zeit!_"

The only ones not singing where Anja, who tried to look like a very professional commander, Hanna, because the truck didn't have a radio of its own, and the boys, who didn't really knew what was going on around them. It goes without saying that Simone was absolutely happy for managing to keep the girls singing and their spirits high, with the added bonus of getting the boys quite confused.

Maria sang along the other girls. After the stop in the police station she'd moved to the turret, occupying the loader's position. She kept the access hatch open, feeling the cold air of the night against her soft skin.

"This is incredible!" Ysabelle told her once the singing stopped for a while. "Feels like a field trip!"

Simone came right after peeking though her hatch.

"Yes, you're right! You did well in coming with us, Maria!"

The sentence made the faint smile on Maria's face darken slightly. Did they really have no idea about Anja and her companions' plans? Simone immediately noticed the change in her expression.

"Maria, are you all right?"

There was no time to respond as shortly after a loud crack burst in the column, somewhere behind the _Panzer _IV. Maria turned back while Ysabelle and Simone stood over the front of the tank, holding to the main gun so they wouldn't fall. The Japanese Type 89, which was travelling behind the StuG III, was now rolling out of the road and into a wide ditch dug beside it, the engine roaring under a stream of dark smoke. Something had broken. Anja ordered the crews to halt the march and all the other tanks moved to the edge of the road, several meters ahead of the damaged vehicle.

When Maria and Anja got to the Type 89, now standing silent, two of the crew members were out of the vehicle waiting for them. The others had already opened the engine cover and started to try to figure out the issue, their flashlights glowing against the cloud of smoke which erupted from the tank's innards.

"We're so sorry!" The tank's gunner, Anke Saks, cried to Maria, nervously jumping from one foot to the other.

"There's no need to panic." Anja told her. She turned to Maria. "Nitzschmann, can you take care of this?"

Maria simply nodded back at her and then moved to help the other girls repair the tank. That left Anja to decide what to do while the group stood there waiting for the Japanese machine to be ready to move again. She glanced at the dark sky, covered in clouds, with the moon beyond only managing to show its face through the few small gaps.

It didn't take her long to time to realize what the incident meant.

"We're going to be late…"

* * *

As the saying goes, no plan survives contact with the enemy. Like all adages the "enemy" in this case can be an actual opposing force or a simple obstacle which can be quite formidable nonetheless. Usually military commanders avoid moving combat vehicles to the front lines on their own steam as they not only spend a great deal of fuel but are also rather complex and prone to breakdowns.

Unfortunately for the _Wehrmacht_ the German industry of the time had produced too few transport vehicles capable of carrying large tanks from one place to the other. They were mostly dependent on trains but when such an option wasn't available the tanks had to travel on their own power. That meant keeping the engines and transmissions working for longer periods, thus exposing them to more failures.

And that was exactly what happened to the Baderberg girls that night. Fortunately for them Maria quickly realized the issue was rather simple and could be fixed with the tools they had with them. Regrettably, it still took a whole hour.

By this point, Anja had compromised herself in taking the five tanks to the 77th _Panzergrenadiers_, so they would not leave anyone or anything behind.

While they waited the girls who had nothing to do sat around the M3, its flank illuminated by the truck's headlights, and started chatting. The conversation quickly settled on the always interesting thematic of the opposite sex, with Simone leading the talking.

"Is that so?" She asked to another girl, Jule Uthman, who was detached to the American tank and who had been chatting about two young men from her hometown who were now soldiers fighting for the country. Simone had her chin over her hands and sat on the M3's side hatch, her feet dangling against the suspension bogie.

"Yes! They're tall and athletic!" Jule was rather enthusiastic with the conversation. "When they come back from the front I'm hoping that at least one of them will ask me in marriage!"

"But don't you have a preference?" Simone asked her.

"Well… I would prefer if it was Thomas." The other girl admitted. "But Heinrich is also a great match, I think."

Simone raised an index finger. "It is very important that you have proper standards regarding these things. We must know how to choose a good man for ourselves, that's why we are in the League, after all! To be proper maidens!" She clasped her hands together. "Oh, can you image what would be to find a tall and handsome man to live a true love story with?"

The other girls smiled in true glee before those words. Most of them indeed wished for such a thing to happen to them. Who doesn't want to find true love, anyhow?

It was at this point that Erwin had the unfortunate idea of intervening in the conversation.

"I'm handsome and tall." He said. The girls turned to him and his friends, sitting on the roof of the StuG III while they waited.

"Speak for yourself!" Simone spat at him, like if he'd said the most revolting thing ever.

"You're not even a man yet!" Other girl exclaimed. Erwin opened his mouth wide, shocked and too hurt to reply.

Ignoring the banter, Karina Schumacher, the M3's driver, turned at the Type 89 still surrounded by the repair team. "Oh, did you know?" She said. "It seems Nitzschmann over there has a famous brother!"

"Yes!" Jule yelped. "I've heard he's like a true knight!"

"Really?" Now Simone was truly curious. Maria had told about her family, of course, but never went into too much detail about her brother neither did she ever described him with those terms. She turned at the Type 89 and yelled. "Hey, Maria! When will you present us your brother?"

Maria had been paying some occasional attention to the conversation, while she helped Ysabelle and the Type 89's crew replacing a blown water pipe from the engine's cooling system. Once she realized what the others girls were really talking about she decided to not give it too much consideration. Simone's assertion, though, almost made her lose her composure. She stood still where she was, sitting over the right mudguard of the Japanese tank, without any idea about what kind of retort she could come up with.

Fortunately, Constanze Kaulitz, the tank's driver, peeked through the driver's hatch and call for her, asking if she could turn on the engine. Maria got up and looked at her.

"Just a moment. Let us put this back in, then try to go back to the road."

A few minutes later, the engine revved to life and the tank started to slowly roll back. There was a healthy purring coming from the vehicle and everything seemed to be in working order once again, at least for the time being.

Anja had been silently sitting on the hood of the truck, chewing on a dried sweet potato for most of the time. Now, seeing the tank get back to the road, she decided it was time to lead once again. So she jumped to the ground and approached Maria. "Is it working?"

"I hope so." Maria replied. The tank halted once it got to the middle of the road, the engine purring pleasantly. Still, Maria walked to the tank and climbed to the mudguard to look at the engine compartment, the cover still open.

"So?" Anja asked while she also climbed the tank. He glance drifted to the Mitsubishi A6120VD diesel engine illuminated by the flashlight Maria was holding. Like all girls in that group Anja had became rather proficient in mechanics during the last weeks. And she didn't found anything wrong with what she saw before her.

"I think everything is all right now." Maria finally replied.

"Great!" Anja jumped to the ground and gestured to the girls around the tanks. "We're good. Get to the tanks and get moving!"

Everyone got into motion, running to their respective tanks and starting the engines in a loud rumbling. Apparently unfazed by the controlled chaos around her Simone waited for Maria near the _Panzer _IV, a huge smile in her face.

"You know," she told Maria, "you should consider presenting me your brother once you have the chance."

For a moment Maria considered what to respond. It wasn't the first time that a girl wanted to know about Marco, but although she dearly loved her brother she wasn't actually keen to talk about him. Not casually, at least. On the other hand she realized Simone was mostly being goofy, always full of energy. So Maria smiled at her.

"You never lose a chance now do you?"

"Well, I must keep my options open until I find 'the one', isn't that right?"

Maria actually chuckled at that. She climbed to the flank of the tank and only then noticed Simone had stayed behind.

"Is everything all right?" Maria asked her. Ysabelle, who was already inside the turret, peered through the loader's hatch to see what was keeping them.

"Well, you see…" Simone rubbed her neck for a moment. "There's something else I wanted to tell you. I think you should be the commander from now on."

"Tammeke… I know you like the post."

Simone giggled a little. "I do, but you've worked so hard to repair these tanks and know so much about them. I realized it's kind of unfair to keep you from commanding one, especially now that we'll surrender them anyhow."

In truth, Maria didn't know if she really wanted to command a tank anymore. She'd dreamed about it for most of her life, but the desire had subsided since what happened in Dresden. If that was what the men who crewed those powerful machines were always subjected to then she really hoped she wouldn't ever have anything to do with that.

"That's a great idea!" Ysabelle's excited voice coming from behind Maria made her snap back to reality. Maria didn't even realize she'd started to phase out. "As Nitzschmann's brother commands a tank squadron it would be fitting if she commanded at least a tank while she has the chance!"

Simone winked at Ysabelle. "It's decided then! I'm better at operating the radio, anyhow."

"Yes." Maria told her. It was always so heartwarming to see how those girls had such esteem for her. And she really didn't think she'd made enough to deserve it. It made her feel happy in a way which honestly disarmed her more than she liked to admit. "You're really good at dealing with people, you know?"

"I do." Simone ran around the tank to get to the radio-operator's hatch, humming something to herself all the way through. She passed by Meike, who was prying through her own open hatch after having taken a nap through most of the stop.

"What was that about?" She mumbled to herself, before yawning.

In the front of the column, Anja was already barking more orders, trying to make the girls move faster.

"Come on, what are you doing? We don't have all day!"

It annoyed her to no end that those girls seemed so relaxed when there was yet so much ground to cover.


	4. The Fateful Patrol

AUTHOR'S NOTES

One of the issues in writing war stories is that they usually tend to quickly gather a big cast. It's unavoidable for the most part, less an author falls into the trap of making events feel too small. Although in some conflicts this might be acceptable, like low intensity guerrilla warfare, in larger wars, like World War II, this becomes a real issue.

Simply put, a combat unit, like a tank squadron or an infantry company, has a lot of people. People you need to tell something about, in a way or another, under the risk of otherwise dehumanizing them and forget what these stories should truly be about. Also, this means that the character compendium I have in my profile page will probably grow much bigger in the near future.

* * *

IV

THE FATEFUL PATROL

He sensed the cold air blowing against his face, making him wish the sun was still in the sky. Unfortunately, all he had was the night and the sporadic drizzle, which soaked his coat and covered his steel helmet with cold droplets. None of it made any easier to see whatever enemy movement might be in that area. That was as far as his patrol would go, Corporal Eren Jäger decided. For the most part they hadn't even seen anything worth of reporting during the whole assignment. They'd heard the occasional airplane flying overhead, invisible in the dark, but nothing out of the ordinary. Even the road they were walking along had been completely deserted.

Evidently that Eren could understand the importance of keeping regular patrols around the headquarters. There were reports of enemy paratroopers being launched all across the region, probably recon missions in preparation for the eventual crossing of the river Elbe, and there could be other movements, cutting through the German lines. Colonel Messner was playing smart, he concluded. As soon as Jäger or other patrols saw anything, they would immediately relay the fact to the command center. The enemy would not catch them with their pants down.

The young corporal turned to his comrade, Grenadier Armin Arlert. The blonde teenager seemed distant, something that wasn't all that unusual for him. He was a deep thinker, or something that would pass for that in a young man of his age and time. Sometimes even Eren could become weary of listening to him talking about philosophy, military science and the misery in which the _Wehrmacht_ found itself. Of course, no-one would call him on that, not in the unit of Colonel Messner at least. They were all way beyond politics by that point.

"I think we should start heading back." Eren said to his friend. His eyes deglazed as his mind came back to the here and now. He glanced at Jäger.

"Wha-what?"

Eren snorted. Sleeping on his post… typical Armin.

They've known each other since they were small children. How much would that account for? Ten years or so? For teenagers who were barely beyond their sixteenth birthdays that was an awful lot of time. Young lives who barely remembered the time before the war and who had volunteered and joined the Army, just a year ago, because they felt that there wasn't anything left for them in an annihilated country led by madmen.

"What were you thinking about, Armin? You know we should be scooping for enemy troops."

"Y-yes… I know that." The blonde boy replied. "I was thinking about the enemy paratroopers other units have been seeing… They must be trying to open the path for the armor units standing beyond the Mulde." The river Mulde was one the Elbe's greatest tributaries, just west of their position. "If we don't do anything they will have an open path to Berlin. We cannot let that happen, not on our area."

"Worried with the unit's honor all of a sudden?" Such meager things like honor or prestige weren't really of Armin's concern. He was all about efficiency and properly defeating the enemy. Even the Colonel sometimes asked for his opinion, even being he as young as he was. Those words didn't suit him at all.

"That's not it." Armin glanced down, his eyes focusing on the Schmeisser machine pistol in his hands. "It's just… This is our land, Eren… We shouldn't let the invaders conquer it without a fight." He shrugged. "Feels wrong, you know?"

Eren turned back, giving a few steps backwards while staying alert to his surroundings.

"I feel you, Armin. And I agree. The bastards who burned Dresden and Leipzig driving down to Berlin without taking a sweat? Not going to happen."

"I just think…" Armin shrugged and adjusted his helmet. "If we just had a couple of tanks, you know? We could-"

"Wait." Eren raised a hand. His voice was low but tense. There was a sound, at first faint, but it was quickly becoming louder. Something was approaching. "Do you hear that?"

It was all too evident now, the rumble of petrol engines and the whining of tracks sliding over the tarmac. Armin's eyes widened.

"_Panzers_…"

Both youngsters traded a glance and then they jumped to the ditch on the side of the road. Peeking over the edge, they saw the incoming tanks coming into sight from a depression in the road ahead, one at a time. At first they thought they could be enemy vehicles, but then they heard the chanting barely over imposing itself to the engine's roar.

"That's German." Armin whispered, unbelieving. The voices seemed feminine.

"What the hell…" Eren bit his lower lip, his mind trying to make any sense of that. "Better check it out."

Eren was the first to get back to the road. He stood at the edge, raising the rifle over his head. The vehicles' headlights blinded the soldier for a moment, meaning that he couldn't see the commander of the leading tank gesturing to the four following it, bringing the column to a halt, although in a curiously uncoordinated manner. Two of the tanks slammed into each other, and the lead took a moment too much to break, almost trampling Eren who had to get out of the way in the nick of time.

"Are you sleeping?" He yelled at the commander of the lead tank, infuriated. And then he went out of words. The commander of the tank had long brown hair and a cute face with a serious expression. It was a girl, probably the same age as he was. His jaw dropped involuntarily. Armin approached him, also glancing at the Amazon.

"Who are you?" The girl demanded to know. Meanwhile someone was arguing at the back of the column, probably the commanders of the tanks which had collided. That girl, though, ignored the fact to focus on the two young soldiers.

"We're from the 77th _Panzergrenadier_ Battalion, _Fräulein_." Armin said.

"Ah!" The girl seemed relieved and actually smiled a little. "Exactly who we were looking for!"

Having recovered from the shock, Eren crossed the Mauser over his chest and gave a step forward.

"I'm sorry, but who are _you_?"

"Name's Anja Köningsberg, _Obergefreiter_, from the Baderberg BDM grouping." The girl answered, seemingly quite familiar with military ranks. Eren had another shock right after because the remaining crew of the tank opened the hatches to peek on what was happening and catch some fresh air. They were all girls. "And you are?"

"_Obergefreiter _Eren Jäger. This is Grenadier Armin Arlert."

"Nice to meet you. We are here to deliver these tanks to your commander. _Oberst_ Messner, am I right?"

"You are, _Fräulein_."

"Very well. Can you take us to him, then?"

Eren and Armin traded a glance, still puzzled. In the end the corporal shrugged and decided that all he could do was, in fact, do what the lady asked. After all, his unit could use the tanks. He climbed to the back of the 38(t) and leaned over the tower. His hands were close to Anja's back. The girl had her torso peeking out of the commander's hatch, her slender legs disappearing inside the vehicle. Eren couldn't help but peep a little, although the girl didn't seemed to notice, or didn't mind, the fact.

"You back there, stop your clatter and get back inside!" She yelled to back of the column. "We're back on the move!"

Meanwhile Armin went to the other side of the small tank and simply sat over the engine's cover, looking back to the rest of the column. Eren followed his glance, making a quick visual inspection to the scene. There were five more vehicles, all of different models. The discussion between the crews of those which had collided seemed to be over and the female tankers were again taking their positions.

But what really caught Eren's attention was the tank right behind the 38(t), a _Panzer_ IV, more specifically the commander of that vehicle. She was also a teenage girl, with light-brown hair, brown eyes and a very pale skin. She was beautiful, he realized, and had a faint smile on her face, seeming at the same time vigilant and introspective. Her eyes had a hard edge to them too, difficult to notice but there nonetheless.

He couldn't tell at the time what it was, but something in that girl appealed to him. She was definitively special and Eren simply knew he wanted to get to know her.

"Are you going to take us there or what?"

Anja was now annoyed. He turned back at the road beyond the tank and pointed.

"You need to move up the road for a few kilometers…" And he went on explaining the path. Anja then gestured to the other commanders and the five tanks resumed their march, roaring in the cold calm of the night.


	5. Into the Fire

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Bridging chapters aren't easy to do. It's surely inviting to write action scenes, they are as fun to do as they are to read. But without the proper buildup they incur into the serious risk of feeling flat and meaningless. After all, the reader is journeying *with* the characters, not simply alongside them. It's required a connection, an obviousness to the stakes, at least in our journey companion's perspective.

Sometimes, this buildup might feel a little overlong, but it's the story and the genre that dictates who much each detail must be laid down before the so-important setpieces come to be. And we're almost there.

* * *

V

INTO THE FIRE

It took them just a few minutes to get to the woodlands. At this point the roads started to become harder to navigate, barely more than dirt trails zigzagging among the trees. Apparently Grenadier Arlert knew the region quite well and offered the idea of going in the front with the truck, while Jäger remained with Anja to coordinate the tanks. This change forced a short stop, which some girls used to stretch their legs and eat something before resuming the march.

"I hope this doesn't take much longer." Ysabelle confessed to Maria. After travelling for a full night, even she was starting to run low on energy.

Maria looked back, to the rest of the column dragging behind the _Panzer_ IV.

"I also hope so." She muttered.

The column turned a few meters ahead, entering a wide clearing. There they noticed some sounds in the distance. Detonations muffled by the tree cover and a repetitive rumble.

"What is this?" Ysabelle asked, looking around. She connected the points more or less at the same time Maria did.

"Gunfire…"

Nervously, they looked over the nearby tree line. The darkened sky was covered in a thick layer of clouds although the moon sometimes managed to show its face in the few openings passing by. Against it they could see the dim reflections of the explosions from the battle nearby.

A sense of dread started to creep over Maria's spine. That wasn't going to be good.

In the 38(t) ahead of her Anja was growing impatient. She turned to Jäger, who stood over the engine cover, holding on to the turret with one hand while he searched for his comrades.

"So where are your people, again?" She asked him, irritation patent on her voice.

"They should be around here." The young soldier retorted, evidently confused. "Must have moved down the road for some reason."

He was also starting to get impatient. Something was happening, something terrible, he could feel it. And yet, he wasn't where his comrades needed him, but was instead babysitting a bunch of girls in tanks, or at least that was how he saw it.

Suddenly he noticed Armin gesturing through the passenger window of the truck ahead. Following his hand Jäger noticed a light flashing in short intervals in the night. He indicated it to Anja.

"Look. Order your people to stop up ahead."

Armin should have thought the same as the truck got out of the road and stopped just short of the nearby trees. On the other hand, Anja was somehow distrustful but passed on the order anyway. One by one the tanks parked on the grass field flanking the road. Immediately a group of soldiers walked out of the trees to meet them. Eren and Armin jumped out of the vehicles they were riding.

"Jäger." One of the soldiers, a young man with a Mauser crossed over his chest, greeted Eren. "So are these the new tanks?"

"Seems so…" Eren wanted to ask something more but one of the other soldiers interrupted him with his confused yelp.

"They're girls!"

"What about it?" Anja retorted immediately. She descended from the 38(t) and was joined by Maria and the other commanders. Erwin made a point in approaching the soldier who had spoken and stuck a finger in his chest.

"By the way, I'm a man." He said. The soldier, though, was still too shocked to reply.

The group gathered around Eren and the young man who seemed to be leading the soldiers.

"So, what's going on?" Anja wanted to know. The leader looked at her, still dumbfounded.

"Snap out of it, Kirstein." Eren told him. "What's happening?"

That seemed to do the trick. Kirstein turned toward Eren and started explaining.

"They say some British paratroopers landed nearby a couple hours ago. They fell right over our defensive lines. Seems they didn't know about them. The _Oberst_ is now trying to mount a counter-strike, but the Tommies are pressing on anyway. They might overrun the command center in less than an hour."

"What about reinforcements from other units?"

Kirstein shook his head and sighed.

"By morning at best… I wouldn't be holding my breath."

"It will be too late by then."

Anja gave a step forward. "We have to do something!"

"What? Who's 'we' are you talking about?" Again, Kirstein couldn't keep up with Anja's thinking. Her ideas seemed ludicrous. But she wasn't about to give up due to his slow thinking and promptly pointed over her shoulder with her thumb.

"We have a bunch of tanks over here!" She declared. "That's some heavy firepower we can use. And while we're standing here our countrymen are dying out there!"

"But who will crew them?"

That question made Anja exasperate. Hadn't she being implying that fact for the entire conversation?

"We will!"

"Wait?" One of the girls yelped. "You're saying like… taking them to fight?"

Suddenly the others girls started to mumble among themselves, most of them scared with the idea. The gunfire in the distance started to become more intense and seemed to be getting closer.

"We're all that's here." Anja turned to face the girls. That was her chance! The chance to make a real difference in the war. And it seemed that Fate itself had decided to bring her somewhere where it mattered. "We're the only ones who can crew the tanks and we're the only ones in position to make something about those enemies up there! If they overrun this post, then who knows how quickly will they get to Berlin?"

"But that's scary!" Another girl, Constanze from the Type 89's crew, screamed.

"I don't know…" On the other hand Erwin had a huge smile on his face for some reason. "Count me in! Doing something is way better than staying here anyway."

His friends stood by his side, evidently scared but eager to do something. The girls were much more hesitant. It was Ysabelle who finally made the question everyone was thinking. She turned to Maria.

"Can we do it?"

Unbeknown to the others Maria was already thinking on the issue, her hand covering her mouth as her mind run a series of different scenarios and tried to remember the important lines from all the books she'd read.

"Maybe…" She muttered. And then she turned to Eren, as she didn't expect a direct answer from Kirstein. "What kind of opposition are we facing?"

The corporal shook his head.

"Paratroopers on foot, with some light armor."

"What kind of armor?" For some reason she couldn't quite understand the proximity of combat was starting to make Maria's mind function on a different gear. She felt focused, cold even, her mind forgetting everything but the problem at hand.

For a moment she even surprised herself; all of her ideas of avoiding the fighting seemed to be all but set aside. But then she realized that there wasn't actually much of a choice. There were German soldiers in mortal danger and non-one else available to help them. It would be a short fight, she told herself, just a few shots and then the local troops would take the tanks away.

"Some airmobile tanks, maybe Tetrarchs."

The Tetrarch was a British light tank adapted for airmobile operations when the war started. It had too little firepower and almost no armor, and the crews hated it.

"Then we might still do this." Maria extended a hand to Kirstein. "Map." She demanded. She couldn't notice, of course, but she had assumed an expression of complete concentration, her eyes cold and even somewhat frightening. If her father was there he would have told her how much she resembled her brother in that moment.

The soldier in front of her hesitated at first, but then withdrew a folded sheet of paper from his breast pocket. Maria pulled it out of his hand and walked to the closest tank, the 38(t), to unfold the map and spread it over the vehicle's glacis, right in the front of the hull. Surprised with her behavior the rest of the group around her simply followed to try to see what she would come up with.

"Flashlight." Maria's voice was level but it was evident who was now in control. One of the soldiers produced a small flashlight and pointed it over the girl's shoulder. "Where are we?" she asked. Eren pointed to one of the roads represented on the map.

"Here."

"And the enemy?"

There was a slight delay, but finally Kirstein conformed to the situation and pointed to a point further east.

"They're probably here already. The last report said they were advancing along this stream over there."

"That far?" It was Armin who manifested the surprise he and Eren were feeling. Their unit was being crushed.

"If they're going through here then we should try to catch up with them down here, and mount an ambush a little further down…" Maria narrowed her eyes, trying to see if she was reading the map properly. "Here."

"Very well." Eren said. "I'll go with you to tell you the way." He turned to the other side. "Armin, you'll go with the ambush team."

"What, me?" The teenager was still thinking on Maria's plan when Eren talked, startling him.

"Yes, you!"

The next one to talk, surprisingly, was Kirstein.

"Very well, if we're doing this then my men will come along."

Maria smiled at him.

"That'll be good. The two groups will need the infantry support."

"Yeah…" The young man shook his head, in disbelief that he was going along with that plan. "Try to not screw up, whoever you are."

With that taken care of Maria turned to Anja and the other girls, who stood in silence watching as she and the two corporals came with the plan.

"I'll do this," she started to say, "but I cannot force you."

"Will it be scary?" Karina asked, clutching her trembling hands in front of her chest.

"Very." Maria replied, bluntly honest.

"It will." Anja added. "But if we don't do anything, then those soldiers are dead. It's up to us to save them."

There was still some hesitation, but in the end, all personnel decided to go through with that. Anja wouldn't have it other way, although she didn't say that aloud. There was no time to lose, anyway.

"Very well, I'll lead." Maria said. "I'll be…" she looked at the _Panzer_ IV and stumbled at the pink cartoony fish painted over the armor by Ysabelle two weeks ago. She'd completely forgotten to erase it, and now it stood there, embellishing the turret and looking at her with a judgmental glare. Or at least so it seemed. Maria shook her head and tried to focus.

"I'll command from Anglerfish Team. With me I'll have," she pointed at Anja and Noemi respectively, reciting the first animal species that crossed her mind, "Turtle Team and Duck Team." Then she pointed at Erwin and Augusta. "The ambush team will be formed by Hippo Team and Rabbit Team with Augusta on the lead." She folded the map and gave it back to Kirstein. "Let's move."

Although Erwin and his friends lost no time to get back to their vehicles, most of the girls simply stood there for a moment, confused and scared. It had to be Anja to put them on the move with a few well-placed yells which gave no space for hesitation.

With that taken care of Anja turned once again to Maria, and was surprised to see her leaning against the front of the 38(t), her stare lost in infinity. She seemed absolutely tired and incredibly small.

"Nitzschmann?" Anja queried.

"I just hope we're not making some terrible mistake…" Surprisingly enough, taking the last five minutes into account, Maria's voice sounded like a faint whisper.

"Those men need our help." Anja stressed, realizing she didn't sound all that convinced. Now that they had a plan and were starting to go into an actual combat all of her big talk and old dreams seemed meaningless. She realized that now that she was so close to fulfilling that dream she only wanted to run away.

Maria seemed to notice her sudden hesitation.

"We can still board that truck and run away." Maria murmured.

And Anja turned back, to the Boxer that stood at the edge of the road, abandoned and surprisingly inviting. The voice of Corporal Kirstein exploded into her mind right after.

"Are we doing this or not?" He and his men had already boarded the tanks, piling over the engine covers.

Now there was no turning back. The last chance to do so had come and gone as if it had never existed. Now they were committed, and to war they went.


	6. First Blood

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Truffaut was indeed right. For someone who has a passion for the action/adventure genre, the writing of action scenes is usually the funniest part of the whole deal. The same goes for the reader. There's an endearing simplicity to them, a very much real sense of excitement as one sees the characters risking their lives, very literally fighting against all odds, and come on top. There is nothing wrong in enjoying these scenes, but, as always, they do have a time and a place. After an overlong wait, I admit, we'll finally going to see girls been thrown into the fire.

* * *

VI

FIRST BLOOD

The MG42 crackled furiously in the night, flames bursting out of its barrel, spewing a stream of bullets over the barely visible British paratroopers. Once again the soldier operating the machinegun couldn't perceive if he'd hit someone, or simply made them more cautious with their approach. His comrade stood beside him, firing his K98k rifle as fast as he could slide in new rounds. He was getting quite infuriated with the whole situation.

"Damned Tommies!" The sharpshooter yelled, raising the rifle from the edge of the ditch where they were hiding to open the chamber and feed it with a new 5-round clip. To his right other soldiers tried to get cover behind ditches, hastily-dug foxholes, tumbled trees and even the burning remains of two half-tracks which had already fallen prey to the enemy tanks and PIAT launchers.

In the opposite side of that grass field the British were already prepared to make a new push. Bren machine-guns vomited bullets over the German defenders and mortar rounds exploded all over the place. Somewhere someone screamed in pain, his despair overcoming even the confusion of barked orders and frantic swearing.

Some stray bullets scratched the dirt in front of the ditch, making the young man in the machinegun wince. His comrade slapped him in the helmet.

"What are you doing? Fire back!"

So the machinegun burst once more in the fury of automatic fire. After a while the weapon had to be opened for reloading. Shots were being fired all around, but the soldiers kept alert to their surroundings. It was this that saved their lives, actually.

The rifleman heard the rumbling, turned back and reacted quickly enough to grab the machine gunner and take him out of the way of the tank that rolled over their cover and kept moving, right into the British line.

"Hey, see where you're going!" The rifleman yelled at the tank. One of the men sitting on the back of the vehicle actually replied back.

"It's a woman on the wheel!"

The rifleman didn't know what to make of that statement.

* * *

It took the attack group maybe ten minutes to get to the combat area. The roads were clear and Eren actually knew the area quite well. As he'd said, "Colonel Messner's troops know how to take notes." The expression made Maria curious to know that colonel person, as the men seemed to have some genuine admiration for him.

Most of time was spent with Maria trying to organize the attack group so everyone knew what to do. Apparently, Eren was in command of the infantry travelling along with them, Kirstein having departed with the ambush group, and would be the one responsible for keeping the enemy infantry away from the tanks. Maria wasn't prepared to risk complex maneuvering with inexperienced crews in the dark, so she would try to keep things simple.

If everything went accordingly with the plan the sudden impact of the armored trust would be enough to push the British back. As far as anyone knew they were simply a small paratrooper unit trying to explore weak points in the local defenses.

After that the girls started the wander into other questions. Ysabelle actually had a very good one.

"We're running out of fuel, you know that, right?" She asked Maria when she sunk into the fighting compartment to check how everyone was going.

"I know," Maria replied. "but we won't be moving around much. If we run out of fuel it shouldn't change things that much as long as we get there."

Ysabelle nodded in acquiescence. She seemed nervous, they all were. The teams were formed more or less at random, although in the end everything seemed to be working just fine. In the _Panzer_ IV Meike was still the driver, with Simone operating the radio and Hanna in the gunner's position. That left Ysabelle to fill the role of loader and acting mechanic. She seemed satisfied with the post, but it was evident she was afraid of what was about to happen.

Even Maria could barely believe they were actually doing that. Maybe it was the exuberance of their youth, or maybe the urgency of the moment had taken the best on their judgments. But Anja had been right: there was no-one else available to do what they were doing.

Stranger than that was how Maria herself was feeling at the moment. She'd expected to feel scared and depressed with the perspective of leading her new friends into battle, something they shouldn't be doing for several reasons. And yet there was a certain excitement growing in her. The wind blowing against her face, the roaring engine, the trembling vehicle around her… It all felt… electrifying.

She felt alive in a way she never did before. And it scared her more than the possibility of facing hostile fire.

Did her father and brother feel that same sensation? Was that the reason why some men actually liked war?

"Are we really going to do it?" Hanna's question pulled Maria out of her digression. "Kill people?"

Maria found Hanna's question difficult to answer. What could she say to reply to it?

"Yes… But we will focus on the enemy tanks, so you don't need to do anything regarding the infantry if you don't want to."

Hanna didn't look at her, instead keeping her eyes on the aiming sight. But Maria could still notice the tension in her face and how stiff her body was.

While Maria tried to calm her crew, in the other tanks the girls dealt with the situation as they could. Inside the Type 89 the radio-operator, Tabea König, thought about something they'd discussed earlier.

"Do you think there are good-looking men in the battalion?"

The gunner, Anke, looked away from her sight and clasped her hands.

"Oh, I bet there are! Maybe some true knights at heart!"

"And they won't have any other option but notice us!" In spite of her fear, Tabea was actually starting to feel excited. "After all we're going to save their lives!"

Noticing the conversation, Noemi looked down into the fighting compartment, a smile on her face.

"I bet they'll be all over us once this is over with!" She agreed and smiled.

"I can't see anything in this darkness…" Constanze mumbled, completely focused in the driving and apparently oblivious to the conversation. Tabea, on the other hand, was now quite happy with herself.

"I must tell this one to Simone!"

In the 38(t) the discussion was completely different. Ursel trembled in her post.

"I'm afraid…" She confessed.

"Use it to enhance your survival instincts, then." Anja retorted. She had taken the radio-operator post so she could coordinate communications and was focusing on that task, waiting for Maria's own commands. Meanwhile the girls in the Type 89 extended their conversation to the _Panzer_ IV's radio operator.

"I better take the initiative once this is over," Simone replied to Tabea, her voice slightly distorted by some static, "before you take all the good ones."

Chaos! That was chaos! The radio shouldn't be used to talk those things!

"Keep the channel open and don't waste time in needless banter!" Anja yelled at the mike, gaining a stunned side glance form Ursel. "What?"

She was right, though. A few seconds later Eren was calling through the open commander's hatch of the _Panzer_ IV to tell Maria they were almost there. She assumed the typical tank commander position, body straight and hands over the two halves of the hatch on each side. Out there she could listen clearly to the sounds of gunfire and mortar shell explosions.

"We should turn after those trees." Eren pointed at a batch of woodland, barely visible in the darkness. Only the flashes of explosions and gunfire and the wavering light of something burning made the contours noticeable.

"All right…" Maria turned back and gestured at Monica, who was standing on the command hatch of the 38(t). On her turn Monica gestured to Noemi in the Type 89. The tanks then assumed the formation decided along the way, with the _Panzer_ IV in the swiveling point, the Czech tank in the middle and the Japanese machine in the outer edge.

The formation wasn't perfect, as the different tanks tended to move too much ahead or stay slightly behind, but it would have to do. They didn't have more time, and as they were moving rather slowly they should manage to compensate as they went.

Obeying the command the tanks left the road, already moving in a slightly wedged line and passed by the trees. Maria involuntarily winced as she saw what awaited her. Tracer rounds shimmered in the night and two half-tracks burned like funerary pyres. The worst was the yelling, men spouting orders, swearing or simply crying out loud. She got so upset that she only noticed the ditch when the tank was almost over it. The two soldiers who had been hiding there jumped out of the way right on time.

While Hanna and the Type 89's gunner didn't seem too eager to fire at unprotected human beings, Anja didn't seemed to be so contained. The hull-mounted MG37 burst in the night, spreading shimmering tracers all across its field of fire. Either the sudden entry in scene of the unexpected tank support or the advancing machine gun fire made the firefight subside for a moment. It seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Maria gestured to Monica, now to her right. "Halt."

It took a second, but the 38(t) stopped with a sudden wobble, as did the other two machines

"It's your stop." Maria told Eren.

"Good hunting, _Fräulein_." The young corporal told her before dismounting along with his men. The grenadiers abandoned the backs of the tanks and spread around them, deploying the machine guns and aiming their rifles and machine pistols.

_We're just here to buy you some time_, Maria though, somewhat sadly. Some stray bullets ricocheted against the side of the turret with a metallic 'cling', calling her back to the task at hand. She pointed forward with her open palm and the line of tanks resumed their slow march. At the same time Monica and Noemi entered the tanks, closing the hatches behind them. From now on they would be coordinated solely through the radio chatter.

Gunfire restarted, this time sounding even more intense than before, or maybe it was the proximity of the German fire teams, now simply spraying ammo over the perceived positions of the British troops. Turtle and Duck teams also joined forces with the infantry and fired the main guns at anything that seemed to move, making the ground explode. It was impossible to tell if in the midst of all those pyrotechnics they managed to hit a single enemy paratrooper. They should at least be making them nervous.

Hanna kept her weapons silent, searching for the enemy tanks, unwilling to hit a person like that. Would she be actually able to fire, even at a tank? Because if she couldn't, then Anglerfish Team would become something of a liability.

Something passed over Maria's head, too fast and dark for her to tell what it could be. The PIAT round would have shattered the _Panzer_ if it'd hit, and although she couldn't identify what it was it still made her nervous.

It took them only a few seconds to see the British tanks, three of them, and too close for comfort. They weren't Tetrarchs but still looked incredibly small, with angular hulls and round turrets, barely discernible in the dark. For some reason they were moving to the right, exposing their flanks to the incoming German armor. That was it, and Maria didn't hesitate to yell the orders to the intercom, the excitement of the moment making her voice sound a little too high-pitched.

"Halt! Target at one o'clock! Fire at will!"

Again the tanks stopped rather abruptly. Hanna, of course, heard the orders before the other gunners did and opened fire as soon as Ysabelle slammed a fresh AP round into the KwK 40's breech. The firing shook the _Panzer _IV and made Maria's ears ring. Up ahead the round hit the M22 right into the tensor wheel, just a few centimeters from missing the tank entirely. The impact made the wheel shatter into thousands of tiny splinters and dug deep into the engine compartment. It immediately caught fire and the crew lost no time abandoning the vehicle.

The other teams missed their targets entirely, and the two remaining British M22 tanks turned away from the incoming fire, exposing their backs but trying to find solace in the darkness.

Time to give chase.

As soon as the thought formed in Maria's mind she heard a huge detonation to her right. She turned in time to see the Type 89's engine tumbling across the field, amid a shower of metal debris, some of which cascaded over the flank of the 38(t) with a loud rustle.

Her eyes widened in shock as she realized something had fired at the Japanese tank, the armor-piercing round hitting with such force that it had actually pulled the engine out of its mountings and projected it through the opposite side of the vehicle, obliterating it in the process. What remained was a gutted carcass, the fighting compartment cut midway-through, the aft half of the machine completely vanished and the turret standing on the ground beside it.

Someone asked what was happening, a voice edging the complete panic erupting through Maria's headphones, but she didn't understand a single word. Her mind was completely focused on the pile of shredded metal that was once a tank.

A tank with four girls inside…

_What was that?_

A heartbeat later something blasted through the fence to the far right of the field, hurling leaves, splintered branches and a huge pile of dust into the air. The beast of metal literally flew through the dust which curled around it and crashed over the field with a force that made it waggle before the tracks gained traction and propelled it forward, the engine roaring furiously. It was rectangular, with a boxy turret kept together by large rivets.

The Cromwell had entered the fight violently and was already looking for its next prey. The turret spun and the 75mm main gun found what it was looking for.

It was Maria.

In that moment, all the excitement with the combat, all the worry with her crew, all the urgency to protect her Fatherland, all of it was washed away by an inclement wave of pure unadulterated fear.

In that moment, all she could think of was her brother and her father.

And then the British muzzle burst into flames.


	7. Crude Awakening

AUTHOR'S NOTES

War never changes. When we get down to it war is nothing else but the attempt of one group to impose over the other through force. And it generally ends in a grisly fashion for people from all the parties involved. War is bloody, is ugly, is unforgiving. And it's also chaotic, a turmoil of crisscrossing events all happening at the same time. Because combat is chaotic, and Murphy is always looking, always prepared to bring misfortune to some unwitting victim. And this has been so since immemorial times.

* * *

VII

CRUDE AWAKENING

The Cromwell didn't fire immediately. Instead it moved a little further and stopped, taking careful aim. Then several things happened at the same time.

After being informed that the tanks he'd asked for had already arrived and were facing the enemy paratroopers, Colonel Messner had decided to send a part of the troops he was gathering for the counter-attack ahead to help the newly-arrived. He also gave them the few _Panzerfausts_ in the battalion's possession. The first squad rushed into the field when the Cromwell got Duck Team. One of the men, a sergeant who was still young but had lived through all the years of that war, run to the ruin of a tank and saw what was happening.

He fell over one knee and grabbed the metal tube on his back. The _Panzerfaust_ was a crude weapon made out of desperation by a strained industry. In didn't have the fancy aiming mechanisms of the Bazooka or the _Panzershreck,_ but compensated that by being as simple to use as it could get.

So the sergeant aimed and fired. And failed.

The rocket missed the tank but by an incredible streak of luck hit the main gun, piercing right through it. Flames erupted from the two new holes and the muzzle started to spew smoke like if it was on fire. Noticing he was now completely alone in the front, the sergeant decided to throw the now useless launching tube to the ground and run back to his comrades.

When the explosion happened Maria froze in place, her mind going blank. It took her a few heartbeats to realize she wasn't dead yet.

To her right the wounded Cromwell rolled forward, the crew surely realizing their main gun was now compromised. It joined the M22s, who were coming back into the fight. The 38(t) fired at the British tanks and missed once again. They replied in kind right after.

One of the rounds went too wide, but the other scraped the _Panzer_ IV's glacis and then hit the straight metal plate above, jumping in the air with a loud rumble. Maria immediately lost it and sunk into the turret, falling over the commander's seat with a whimper.

Shocked, Ysabelle reached for her hand, squeezing it gently. Meanwhile Simone was yelling from her post. "What do we do?"

_Think…_ Maria was trembling, her mind empty, listening only to her own heartbeat.

"Maria, we have to do something." Hanna tried to seem calm, but her features were hardened, nervous.

_Think._

"Maria, we can't stay here!" Simone was almost crying.

_Think!_

"We need to pull back." The words left Maria's mouth almost automatically. Then she turned to Meike. "Two hundred meters in reverse, go!" And to Simone. "Tell Anja to do the same."

The tank started moving and then it jerked and stopped, the engine going silent.

"What happened!" Maria demanded to know.

Meike peeked into the fighting compartment, her eyes wide open and her shoulders trembling. "We're out of fuel..."

At that moment Maria felt completely overwhelmed. She was smart and she was calm, but that was too much. And so she stood there, looking at Meike with her mouth open, trembling in panic. Involuntarily she squeezed Ysabelle's hand, seeking for some sort of comfort.

_Not now…_

* * *

The ambush group had gotten lost.

Although Kirstein was the one in command of the infantry troops, it was Armin who assumed the responsibility of finding the way to the point where Maria wanted them to make the encirclement. Unfortunately Kirstein also had his own ideas about how to get there, and Augusta didn't know what to do to balance them both.

Inevitably the directions got mixed up and at a certain point no-one was certain where they really were, only that it was pitch black. Eventually Kirstein, who rode on the back of the StuG III because the M3 didn't have enough space, got fed up with the twists and turns they were taking and decided to be assertive.

"The gunfire is in that direction!" He yelled at Erwin's ear, "So we are going there, directly through the woods if we have to!"

And thus the vehicles rolled out of the road and into the woodland, the desperate drivers doing their best to find openings big enough for them to go by in the dark. At this point they were already moving at a staggeringly low pace. Some of the infantrymen actually jumped out of the tanks and walked besides them.

When the Type 89 was hit the huge ruckus reverberated across the whole landscape, even among the trees. They knew they had to be close although they couldn't yet tell their comrades had been harmed in the incident, especially because at that point the radio chatter turned into a series of panicked cries. That got them worried, but Augusta ordered the crews to move forward anyway.

A few moments later they finally found a clearing that led to the fields where the battle was raging. This time they stopped, trying to find their bearings. Kirstein noticed that they couldn't yet tell where either friends or foes were.

"Just remember that the main gun isn't properly aligned with the aiming sights." Tamara told Killian, who was acting as the gunner, from her driving position. "I'll try to compensate."

"I know, I know!" Killian snapped at her, trying to get a proper feel of the gunnery controls. Tamara, who was one of the girls who worked more in the StuG III, had explained him how everything worked during most of the trip but, of course, he had no practical experience whatsoever. He was a smart kid and could get the gist of it, but still had a lot to learn.

Suddenly a group of angular tanks appeared up ahead, in the limit of the visibility range. They were slowly rolling backwards, trying to escape the sudden advance of the German infantry. The ambush group, though, had no way to know that. For prevention the loaders fed the vehicle's guns fresh rounds.

Kirstein and his men spread around the tanks and deployed their equipment, never too cautious.

"Are those tanks ours?" Kirstein whispered, trying to see the markings on the tanks or other identifying details. He got to his feet and gave a few steps forward. Suddenly a soldier came into view, right in front of the tanks. He looked back at Kirstein, saw his helmet and yelled something to his comrades. Then he dropped to the ground and fired a short burst that went too wide.

"_Scheiße_! No! They're not!" Kirstein also dropped to the ground, holding to his helmet and to dear life. His men laid some suppressing fire, cutting through foliage and grass in the hope of hitting something. The British tanks kept moving but started turning their turrets.

That was more than enough for the tanks' crews. Aboard the M3 Saskia Münchberg fired first, the large 75mm gun mounted in the side sponson blasting over the grenadiers' heads, but the round went too wide and detonated harmlessly among the grass. Then Killian fired. The closest British tank simply exploded when hit, in a cascade de metal splinters and flames.

"We've hit something!" Erwin yelled on top of his lungs. Inside both vehicles the crews cheered in joy.

They hadn't much time to celebrate. A moment later two mortar shells fell around the tanks, making small volcanoes of dirt. Someone screamed.

"Pull back! Pull back!" Without military training and without knowing what was actually happening, Augusta was starting to act purely on instinct. Meanwhile the mortar barrage kept going. Inside the M3 Karina simply panicked, along with Jule and Saskia, and pulled back too quickly, digging the right track in the dirt until it got stuck. The bulky American tank rolled to the left and the blocked track snapped.

From his command hatch Erwin had a privileged view of the whole incident. He started gesturing frantically to the other machine's crew. If there was something he really knew about cars and such was that if something broke you shouldn't persist on the risk of making things worse.

"Kill the engine! Kill the engine!"

The warning wasn't actually needed. Right after the engine chocked and died. The StuG still went deeper into the woods until it trembled when it rammed its rear against a tree. Fearing she'd done something wrong, Tamara immediately killed the engine. And so, both vehicles stood still and silent among the trees.

Fortunately the British had stopped firing their mortars by that point. In the silence, Erwin, who was basically the only tanker still keeping some of his cool, realized the gunfire had watered down to some occasional bursts.

While he pondered the situation the side hatch of the M3 opened and Armin and Aaron got out of the tank, their ears still ringing from the girls' screams.

"I swear," Aaron yelled in irritation, "I'll never drive with a woman ever again!"

"What happened in there?" Armin moaned, looking absolutely perplexed. Meanwhile some confused and scared moans kept coming out of the wounded tank, the girls still recovering from their moment of absolute panic.

Corporal Kirstein didn't even try to hide his expression of disbelief when he got back to the vehicles and saw their sorry state. He simply shook his head and ordered his men to spread and form a perimeter.

"Hey!" Erwin called him. "What's happening?"

Kirstein shrugged. For him talking with Erwin seemed more natural than doing it with the girls, especially in that situation. Even more so, Augusta was still trembling in her command hatch. Truth be told, she hadn't been the best choice for a leader.

"I have no idea. Although I think the British are pulling back." He leveled his helmet with the tip of his index finger. "Can we use the radio in that thing to contact the _Oberst_?"

"We can try." Although he still had no idea how to operate the radio, Erwin promptly sunk into the tank. Meanwhile Kirstein glanced around. The surviving British tanks had retreated along with the infantry they were supporting. What had all of that been about?

"I can't believe we did it…"

While he stood there, Erwin pocked his head outside of the vehicle again.

"Are you coming, or what?"

"Going!" Well, whatever had happened, the Colonel would certainly be the one holding the answers. Him or someone above him, anyhow…

Lost in those thoughts, he almost forgot about the girls who'd held the line and paid the price for their trouble.


	8. Shellshock

AUTHOR'S NOTES

It was always known that war does things to people. While the physical injuries are evident, there are other, deeper, darker, wounds the human being can experience. Even if action can be as exciting to read and chaotic as it is, the people who live through it will never be the same thereafter. Such reality should be approached with care, and the savvy writer will realize their characters will never be the same after they've tasted combat. Even more, they will change as it starts to become more and more recurrent, not always to the best.

How deeply they will change is dependent on the individual personalities of each person. Some will drop into the bottomless pit of despair, while others still hold to their ideals as a source of strength. Regardless of this, the first impact is still devastating for everyone.

* * *

VIII

SHELLSHOCK

His boots were pounding heavily over the overturned grass, his breath whizzing as he tried to overcome the distance separating him from the shattered remains of the small Japanese tank. Behind him the German line advanced carefully, weary of any remaining enemy presence, their silhouettes evident against the dimming fires on the destroyed half-tracks. Ahead in the distance another, more powerful, fires burned over the hulls of the two M22s the British had abandoned on the field.

Eren, like everyone else, had seen the Type 89 get hit by the Cromwell which stormed into the battle, probably part of some unit making an in-depth penetration of the German lines to support the paratroopers in whatever was their mission. Like his comrades Eren's first instinct had been to run to the mangled vehicle to seek the girls he knew to be inside. Unfortunately he had the British infantry to deal with and a line to hold. And so he did, until the reinforcements arrived and the ambush group made its move, forcing the enemy to pull out and allowing Eren to finally leave his post and storm the field to see what happened to the tank's crew.

Some of his comrades had followed suit, he could hear them now running behind him. So he clung tightly to the rifle he held in front of him and pressed on.

The _Panzer_ 38(t) that was part of the Baderberg tank squadron stood silent some three hundred meters behind the ruins of the Type 89. The gunner was glaring at that testament to the horrors of warfare, her face livid. Eren gave her no thought and kept running, his lungs now burning due to the strain and the cold air of the night. Still he asked himself where that Königsberg girl could be.

The answer came a few moments later. Anja was kneeling in the middle of the field of debris. She held a girl on her lap whose legs and right arm were twisted in unnatural angles. Blood ran down her mouth and nostrils and she was unmoving although the leader still held her left hand, the only gesture she could do to comfort the girl in the dreadful last monuments of her short life.

Slowly Anja's eyes moved from the body in her arms to the young corporal standing in front of her.

"There are survivors inside the tank." She told Eren with a trembling voice. "See if you can help them."

There was nothing one could do for the departed, Eren had already learned about that hard fact, and he could understand that girl was having her first traumatic experience. He simply nodded at her and moved to the ruined hull, cracked open like an old can.

One of the girls was sitting over the grass crying copiously, her face covered by her hands. Miraculously she seemed to be in rather good shape, her injuries limited to some cuts and bruises. Eren turned to one of his comrades, the first to catch up to him, and told him to take care of her. And then he walked the last meters separating him from the tank itself and looked inside, through the wide opening made by the British 75mm gun.

There was a girl sitting on the floor of the fighting compartment, her legs folded against her chest and enveloped by her arms. Her right shoulder and the side of her head were covered in blood, and it wasn't hard to guess that there were some ugly cuts underneath. Although she wasn't sobbing, tears fell freely down her cheeks. She was in shock.

Eren placed the Mauser 98k rifle against the hull and used a hand to tow himself over the edge of the opening, being careful not to get cut by the splintered metal. He extended his free hand to the girl.

"Hey. Hey!" She wasn't either listening or looking up, so he insisted a little more. "_Fräulein_, please."

The girl finally looked up, her glance that of innocent doubt and absolute confusion. Something Eren knew quite well, having been there himself.

"Let's get you out of there, all right?" He told her.

She stared back blankly for a moment, but then nodded and raised a hand. It took Eren a few more minutes to get her out of the hull and to a more comfortable place over the soft grass. By this point some more soldiers had gathered around the tank and were tending to the girls. The medic even found the driver, who still stood on her post in the front of the tank, unconscious but alive.

Leaving the girl he'd taken out of the tank with another of his comrades, Eren walked back to where he'd found Anja. The _Panzer_ IV's crew was also there. Two of them were talking with the shell-shocked girl found amidst the debris. Another one, a short pretty girl with black hair, stood alone out of the group, lost in her thoughts. The commander and the last crewmember were talking with Anja. Eren decided to approach them. On his way he passed by the dead girl, forcing him to repress a shiver. Fortunately someone had the idea of covering her with a blanket for the sake of everyone else.

"_Obergefreiter_ Jäger," Anja greeted him. Her eyes were red and her expression miserable. "Thank you for your assistance."

The young soldier simply nodded back at first. The three girls sure seemed uneasy, even the eyes of Maria Nitzschmann seemed to have lost that steely edge to them, as they drifted aimlessly to the grass between her feet. Realizing he was at a miss of words Eren decided go and see what their comrades were doing on the other side of the field. Apparently Armin was still there with the remaining tanks of that peculiar squadron.

"You shouldn't have been here. It's…" His voiced trailed of as he realized his emotions were starting to overwhelm him. So he shouldered his rifle and walked away, leaving them behind. Eren still asked himself if that would be the last time he'd see those girls' faces. For their own good, he hoped so, although there was a slight hint of disappointment in turning his back to _Fräulein_ Nitzschmann in such a time of need.

* * *

It was still hard to believe it. The sense of loss crushed Maria's heart like a clam, even though she didn't know the girl that well. But the fact remained that Noemi Jonke was dead, her mangled body still lying over the ground, covered but there to remember everyone what really meant to crew a tank.

Fortunately, the other girls of Duck Team had survived. Tabea König was still in shock for having found herself suddenly several meters away from the tank, covered in bloody scratches but with all important bones intact. Trying to comfort her, Hanna and Simone had sat down beside her and talked to the confused girl. By now the three had already descended into uncontrollable crying.

Maria sighed sadly before that sight and glanced at Anja. There were many things she wanted to tell her, but she felt it was of no use. In the end Maria had to admit she'd decided to go with them against her better judgment and that she was the one who came up with that plan. In the end even she had fallen to the desire to be a hero. And now the cost was plain for all to see.

"What will happen now?" The question came from Ysabelle of all people. Maria and Anja turned at her questioningly.

"They'll probably take the tanks and send us home." Maria said after thinking the issue through for a while. "It'll be for the best."

Her words made Anja finally snap out of her muteness.

"Take the tanks from us? After all we've sacrificed?"

"You can't be serious…" Maria retorted.

Anja probably had some sort of reply in mind, but couldn't bring herself to say it. Her expression changed a few times, she scratched her head, but in the end all she managed to say was a weak "I don't know."

And Maria felt that she couldn't actually judge her on that.

They stood there for a few moments, their bodies caressed by the cold breeze of the night, stealing their warmth. They trembled, but their dark thoughts precluded them of making a single move. On the other hand Meike simple dropped to the ground, legs and arms spread open.

"I'm so tired…" She muttered. There were tears rolling down her checks, but she didn't even sob. She simply laid there, eyes closed and expression tense. It was obvious that she wasn't sleeping, but Maria imagined what should be going across her mind. After all Maria had been through this once already.

Meanwhile the soldiers around them kept moving back and forth, picking the dead and helping the injured. The surviving tanks still needed to be taken out of the field, but it was easy to guess such process would have to wait a little while. Unnoticed in the blur of movement, a lieutenant slowly approached the standing girls.

At first he found himself unable to say anything, too shocked to see a bunch of girls standing in the middle of the battlefield.

"What?" Anja, who never liked to be stared at, was the one who made him snap back into the here and now.

Still the man opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to find the words he needed.

"_Oberleutnant_ Breda at your service, _Fräulein_," he presented himself with a salute, "I was sent by _Oberst_ Messner to find the commanding officers of the tank squadron. Do you know where I might find them?"

"You're looking at them." Anja's rude tone surprised even the other girls. Once again, the poor courier found himself unable to reply to that, his mouth open in utter disbelief.

"It's true." Maria added, "We were the ones who crewed those thanks."

"And shed blood here." Anja insisted, looking at the soldier like if he was something disgusting.

The lieutenant shook his head while trying to decide what to do. What would the Colonel tell him if he appeared in the command center with two girls and not the soldiers he'd called for? But, then again, the Colonel was a rather comprehensive man, he would understand if he was misled, right?

"If that's the case, then can you come with me, please? The _Oberst_ wants to have a talk with you."

"If we really have to…" Anja turned to Maria. "Maybe you should come too." She started to walk away but at that moment she recalled something else.

"You're in charge until we come back." Anja told Ysabelle, and then she and Maria followed the still incredulous Lieutenant Breda to a _Kübelwagen_ car parked in the outer edge of the field, near the road. The trip to the command center was quick and made in complete silence save for the rumble of the engine. In the distance the first sign of light erupted through the darkened sky. Dawn was at hand, but the thought didn't cheer the girls a little bit.

At the first sight the command center was little more than a bunch of campaign tents placed between a set of trees. The ruins of an old manor stood nearby, the craters made by the bombs which destroyed the building still fresh. Probably there was more to it, but in the dark it was impossible to see much. These soldiers, as professionals, made certain there weren't many open sources of light, which could betray their position.

The _Kübelwagen_ stopped in front of one of the tents, a rather large one with a couple trucks parked beside it and a pair of troopers guarding the entrance. They were surprised to see that their comrade had returned with two teenage girls but still complied with their orders and allowed them to pass. One of them even lifted the canvas for them.

Maybe he was simply being generous to the girls, who knows?

Inside the tent was packing with activity. In the farthest wall there was a complicated-looking communication apparatus operated by three people and in the middle of it there was a large table covered in maps and surrounded by people discussing what had happened that night. The side walls had cabinets filled with papers and weapons. That was much like what Maria had expected a professional command post to look like.

Even before Lieutenant Breda could say anything, some heads were already turning to meet the newcomers. And they stood there once they realized what was happening.

"_Oberst_, sir!" Breda started, always matter-of-factly, "I've brought the leaders of the _panzer_ squadron who intervened before."

Colonel Messner was an athletic man in his thirties who was bending over the table, studying some reports. He had black hair and when he turned Maria realized his eyes were equally dark. He glanced at her and Anja for the couple seconds it took him to put two plus two together.

His first words to the girls weren't what Maria had expected.

"Oh, crap…"


	9. Colonel Messner

AUTHOR'S NOTES

I will diverge from the previous notes because this month marks a very important milestone for this project: it is now one year old. Since I first saw GuP that I thought about how would the show look and feel if it was actually set in World War II, the greatest war in mankind's history. I was drawn to write, even without thinking, running into obstacles I never dreamed of, re-writing the story time and again, until I decided to get some help. And when I found it, it was the best help I could have ever hoped for. From writing tips to discussions long enough to fill entire novels, I've met wonderful people and had a great time working on this small project of mine, and hope the future will bring much more fantastic moments related with Heimatfront.

I just hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy working on it and discussing the history therein.

And without further ado, let's dive back into the thick of it.

* * *

IX

COLONEL MESSNER

It was one of the last of its kind. The engine rumbled furiously as it trailed across the cratered road that led to the wall with the burned painting that separated the ruins from the improvised motor pool.

The 18-ton Famo half-track came to an half a few meters beyond the opening in the wall, where twin gates had existed before the bombing of a week ago. Behind it it dragged a large trailer carrying an old-looking tank. A large man jumped from the passenger seat in the driver's cabin and walked to Colonel Royce Messner to greet him.

"Roy," the man extended a hand, which the colonel promptly shook, "it's good to see you again. We've missed you in the Eastern Front."

"It's good to see you again, Alex." Roy made a slight smirk. In fact only a few months had passed since the last time he saw Master Sergeant Alexander Louis Aschenbrenner, but in the course of a war like that even a few weeks could feel like a lifetime. "So you're SS now?"

Alex patted his new black uniform, although without any hint of pride.

"They needed more people to train the new recruits." The large man shrugged. "And honestly I needed some time away from the front… It was draining me."

"Things really are dire, aren't they?"

"You know they are." Alex glanced around for a second before saying, "I'm surprised they didn't invite you."

Roy chuckled, although without joy. "They know I would never accept it. I serve the Army, I always did and always will."

"I guess that's about right, Roy. But some of us aren't that strong…"

With the conversation starting to wander into depressing areas, Roy decided to move forward into more pressing matters.

"So, what do you have here?"

The large man grinned and gestured for the colonel for follow him to the trailer. The bulky tank placed on it looked a lot like the trapezoidal vehicles the British had developed during the Great War, twenty-seven years prior, but had a small turret with a slender gun on the top and a much larger cannon placed in the right side of its wide glacis.

"The Char B1 Bis!" Alex presented the machine. "The French had a few left after we took their country, and we brought a few of them to Germany. Now we're bringing them back into the fight." He turned to Roy and grinned. "After all a machine of war should be used to fight, not to stand around in a building, isn't that so?"

"What about the crews?" That was what Roy was truly interested in. With an ample movement of his large arms, Alex indicated the three teenagers who had descended from the half-track's passenger cabin while they talked. All of them wearied the black uniforms of the SS.

"_Oberst_ Messner, I present you soldiers Sotto, Götz and Köppen. They might look young but they're quite competent!"

How many times already had Roy heard that sentence being used to describe what were basically oblivious kids being sent to the meat grinder?

"That doesn't answer my question, Alex." In spite of the apparent familiarity, Roy's voice started to have a cold edge to it. He wasn't happy with what was happening and Alex noticed it. "Where are the crews I've requested?"

"The crews? I don't understand, Roy… The reports said the tanks the reserve sent you had engaged in combat yesterday. The general assumed you had someone to crew them and sent the remaining crews to other units."

"He did what?"

Now Alex seemed truly confused.

"But you have crews, right?"

By this point Roy was starting to massage the bridge of his nose, trying to get his thoughts straight.

"Do you want to see my crews, _Stabswachtmeister_? Come with me."

Alex followed him into through the destroyed gates and into the improvised motor pool beyond. There were a few trucks and half-tracks there, but what really stood out were the tanks lined up in the farthest corner, hidden under a camouflage net. More importantly, a group of teenage girls in BDM uniforms surrounded a captured M3 medium tank and worked around its right track, repairing the damage suffered two nights prior.

"Ho-how come?"

While the large man absorbed the reality of the moment, Roy leaned against the wall, his hands in his pockets.

"They're BDM girls who have been tasked with recovering a few old tanks from an abandoned depot. As no-one was available to bring the tanks in they did it themselves and ended up dragged into the fighting in the other night."

With a grunt Alex turned at Roy.

"They fought?"

"They actually thwarted a British attempt to get to the CC, or at least that's what we're assuming right now. The defensive line we had there wouldn't hold long after the Cromwell got there." Roy pointed at the group repairing the tanks. "Then they got in the way, killed some Tommies and lost someone in return."

Alex covered his mouth with his hand. Even after so many years fighting that war, some things still seemed too shocking to be true.

"This is messed up."

"Yes, a little bit…"

The observation made Roy's mind start to drift back to the night of the fight, when the two girls were taken to the command tent. He'd been hoping to get those tanks for a while and when he knew the general lines of what had happened he actually thought someone could have sent crews with some sort of experience or, at least, proper training. The German Army was kind of short on both at the time.

And then Anja and Maria entered the tent. Roy took little time to descend into one of his well-known rants.

"Girls? They've sent girls?" He started pacing back and forth, completely oblivious to the contained expressions, and slightly bemused in some cases, of the people around him. "What were they thinking?"

"You're quite frantic today, _oberst_, sir." Lieutenant Havoc intervened. Roy turned at him to find the tall blonde man sporting a ironic smirk in his face. But he was right, Roy had lost his composure for a moment, but he still thought he had all the right to do so.

After all he knew what his orders for the immediate future implied.

"So, tell me, what are you supposed to do next?" Roy asked the girls. One of them, the one who presented herself as Anja Königsberg, gave a step forward.

"Our orders are for us to return to Baderberg once we've delivered the tanks. But I will reckon some of our machines had incurred damage during the fight. We could stay a little longer to repair that damage. We're very good at that and I have the feeling you are in a hurry."

"Don't start making assumptions." Roy told her. But he wouldn't simply send them away after what they've been trough. He could see the shadow of despair in their eyes, something he'd seen in the faces of more people that he could count.

So he requested for the presence of those girls, and let them stay a day or two so they could be occupied with their tanks while the bulk of the trauma washed itself away. The scars would stay forever but at least they wouldn't be back to their grouping looking completely shell-shocked.

Roy had turned to his Intelligence officer. "_Oberwachtmeister_ Fuery, would you be so kind as to help _Fräulein_ Königsberg make her telegram?"

The girls stayed, and he allowed them a warm bath and to work on their beloved tanks. In fact they have been incredibly quick in the repairs, surprising even his own technicians.

"What now?" Alex's voice pulled Roy out of his digression, and back at the conversation at hand. "You can't make tomorrow's attack with a bunch of girls at the helm!"

Roy shrugged.

"It's not like I have a lot of options left."

"You can't be serious…"

"To be honest High Command somewhat tied my hands on this one." Roy leaned away from the wall and gave a few steps to place himself beside Alex.

"Have you gone insane? Grab a few men, explain them how to use a tank, fire the main gun a few times, and send them!"

"That would be less than useful. These girls at least seem to have a minimal grasp of armored combat, for what it's worth. And they are actually as good in mechanics as their leader announced. They can keep the tanks better than my own men!"

With a groan Alex shook his head. "That's insane…"

"Are you questioning my command, _Stabswachtmeister_?" Roy didn't turn to the other man, instead keeping him in sight through the corner of the eye. His tone was level and gave no space for discussion. Alex took the cue.

"I'm not, _Oberst_, sir. I just hope you know what you're doing."

That was also Roy's hope, but he would never admit it to anyone.


	10. How Low the Haughty Have Fallen

AUTHOR'S NOTES

It's evidently impossible to any author to show every moment of the character's lives. Essentially, narrative is an exercise in choosing which of these moments is actually important for the story being told, and which ones should be kept out. In the end it's a question of narrative economy, and what is truly important to show without compromising the pace or the reader's comprehension of the tale. Sometimes the story can exist without trivial minutiae, while in other occasions even apparently insignificant events might need to be told in detail because sometime, somewhere, they will stop being insignificant altogether.

This, of course, overlaps with the always important matter of showing and not telling. But that's another topic, for another time.

* * *

X

HOW LOW THE HAUGHTY HAVE FALLEN

It was now April 14, 1945. Even though Anja had said the girls would return Baderberg by the end of the previous day, they were still in the military post by the second morning. Not that they weren't needed. The repairs on the M3's track and the back of the StuG III were rather quick, after all the girls had grown used to that sort of work. But the experienced eyes of Maria caught several types of disrepair in the equipment of those soldiers and Anja, due to some newfound source of energy, kept asking her what was right and wrong, and what could be repaired.

Judging by what the local technicians had told the girls, they were too few to properly take care of everything, and were desperately running out of parts and tools besides. Of course that Anja immediately put the girls helping those men, making maintenance to the half-tracks and trucks, improvising spare parts with anything they could use (a task in which Ysabelle had became rather proficient), and even helping clean up the vehicle's guns. In spite of some initial objections the help was finally accepted and surprised the men in several ways.

But thinking back on how they were behaving, Maria couldn't help but think that maybe it wasn't just the technical problems that were plaguing the maintenance of the battalion's equipment. She could see it, the look in those men's eyes. They were tired, desperately so.

When the Baderberg girls took over the motor pool some actually sat on a bunch of chairs and drank something they had stashed away from the eyes of their officers. They stood there watching the girls working with the few who cared enough to show them the way around, and kept spewing flirtatious remarks. They simply ignored Anja when she asked them to stop, and only complied when an officer noticed what was happening and called them out on their behavior.

In fact, those men had the same look as the policemen in the village. They had given up. The war was lost and losing steam, and they simply wanted to hide in a corner so they could see the end of it. It was that 'as long as it isn't me' attitude that had infected so many already.

Maria thought in all of that while she sat over a crate glancing in silence at the _Panzer_ IV parked in the other side of the motor pool. The tank had a deep scar over its glacis, where the British round failed to penetrate. It had been a stroke of luck, at that range it could very well have pierced through and killed everyone inside, but some random law of physics had prevented so, thus saving Maria and her friends.

It had been quite the close call, though. It had also been the second time in her life she'd been that close to death. It passed right by her in the other night, but instead of taking her it had instead decided to claim Noemi Jonke.

That was the worst part. Maria had been the one to come up with the plan, so it was her fault that the Type 89's crew was in the right flank of the attack when the Cromwell burst through the fences.

Simply recalling the moment made shivers crawl down her spine. The terrifying sight of the enemy tank in the night had replaced the British bombers in her nightmares. The little time she was able to sleep that night was filled with the despair of running alone through some dark alley of Dresden, chased by the roaring tank.

She knew she was the one who had exposed those girls to such perils. Maria shouldn't ever have supported Anja like she did. Then maybe-

"For some reason it keeps remembering me of a flower."

Those words, spoken right behind her, startled Maria, who turned to face Hanna. The Prussian girl had an old blanket in her hands, and dropped it over Maria's trembling shoulders.

"You can keep it." She told her.

Maria grabbed the blanket to avert it from sliding over her back. However, Hanna's words amazed her and she muttered, "A-a flower?"

"Yes." Hanna replied, a faint smile forming on her lips. "Almost like a rose. They are beautiful, and when you tend for them in the right way they grow perfectly round, almost like if engineered that way. And they have thorns which they use to injure those who threaten them."

She proceeded to sat on the ground beside Maria, her glance once again settling over the injured engine of war.

"But even the best rose," Hanna went on, "can get ruined by an accident or a moment of distraction, and deprived of its natural perfection."

"Hanna…" Lost in her moping and taken by surprise by that girl's words, Maria realized that there was very little she could come up with as a reply. Fortunately Hanna seemed to have some themes she wanted to cover and turned at her once more.

"Did I ever tell you what my family did back in Elbing?"

"I don't think you did." Maria replied. Honestly and even though she enjoyed talking with her new friends she'd never really indulged into the lives they had back in their hometowns, with the probable exception of Simone who liked to talk about her love misadventures as much as possible. Maria guessed that she'd allowed herself to be entranced by the work given to her, maybe a little too much.

"My family is of noble descent, as you know." Hanna opened her arms while she talked. "But we're not as rich as we once were. Time and some bad choices have made things like this. But one thing we've always been know for was the gardens we had around our mansion, and we've been trading garden flowers for generations. I really liked it, but I'll admit it was kind of a bore."

"But it was your family business."

"Yes. But then again what I enjoyed the most during my time in the BDM was all the friends I've made and all the different things we ended up doing." She smiled, although Maria could notice the melancholy in her blue eyes. "Although, I'll admit these last weeks have been the liveliest I've ever had."

"But it ended in a rather terrible way…"

"Do you think it ended?" Hanna seemed surprised by Maria's statement.

"What can we do now?" Maria shrugged. "The tanks belong to the grenadiers now. Anyhow, how could we get back to them after what happened?"

Hanna nodded in acquiescence.

"I'll miss her, you know? If there is something I've learned during the last years is how to cherish my friends. How to be there for them when they're around, and how to remember them when they aren't." She shook her head slowly. "I prefer to think Noemi went on a trip. It's the best way to deal with it."

"However… I was the one who came up with the plan. How will I live with that responsibility?"

Those words made Hanna turn and place a hand over Maria's shoulder.

"It wasn't your fault. You did the best to put us out of harm's way and no-one could have ever guessed that other tank would be there. Whatever you decide in the future, Nitzschmann, I'll support you. I'll follow you."

Such display of trust let Maria dumbfounded. How could she say that, and look at her with such a gentle expression after all the horrors they'd suffered that night? For a moment Maria considered that maybe everyone was simply that brave and she was the one being a coward, wanting to run away and avoid the hell lurking just around the corner.

Or maybe it was despair. Seeing what was actually happening brought up the fatalist inside everyone. Ingrained in her thoughts, she didn't notice Colonel Messner and Anja approaching her. Hanna saw them, but the leader of the group talked before she could say anything.

"Nitzschmann!" Anja exclaimed. "_Herr _Messner needs to have a conversation with the two of us."

For a few seconds Maria stood silent, simply looking back at the colonel and the angry-looking teenage girl beside him. She knew what that expression meant. Anja wanted to show who was in charge, assuming a confident posture, her hands on her waist and her feet firmly placed on the ground. The man beside her looked much calmer, almost aloof if not for the predatory glimmer in his dark eyes.

"I think it's better for you to go." Hanna said in a low voice, so only Maria could listen to her. "This is important."

Maria could only agree with her, so she got up, holding to the blanked around her shoulders. She still turned towards Hanna one last time.

"Thank you."

The other girl simply smiled gently. And then Maria went to join the newcomers. Messner gestured for the girls to follow him. They didn't walk much. There was an empty half-track nearby, one of ubiquitous Hanomags with an armored cabin and a canvas covering the top. They sat in the passenger cabin, Messner and Maria in the left bench and Anja alone in the right, so she could face the colonel.

Messner took of his cap and leaned back, against the cabin wall, crossing his arms and his legs. He seemed relaxed but it was evident to both girls that something was keeping him uneasy.

"First of all, _Fräulein_ Königsberg," he began, "I want to use this opportunity to make something I should have already done and properly thank you and your people for saving my men the other day. I know what it has cost you, but we might have lost the front and our lives if it hadn't been for you."

There were no words to reply to that, so Anja simply nodded and smiled, albeit sadly.

"So tell me, where did you learn to fight like that? I doubt that's part of the BDM resume, am I right?" Again, Anja simply shook her head. Messner, in his turn, glanced at Maria, sitting beside him. "She said before you were their specialist in tanks. Where did you learn that?"

The question almost made Maria's heart skip a beat. She didn't look back at Messner. Instead she tightened the blanket around her shoulders. The question had to come sometime, it was unavoidable, and maybe it was better that it happened sooner than later. But it was the reason why everything happened as it did and now it was the time for Maria to take responsibility for her actions.

"Well, she learned it when she worked in a factory in Dresden." Anja said.

"I doubt they would learn the theory of armored warfare in a factory." Messner replied, skeptic regarding her explanation. Anja opened her mouth to say something, but Maria cut her reply.

"It was my father." She told Messner. "He was the one who told me everything. When I was younger I also took books from his shelf. Guderian, Rommel, Fuller, Sun Tzu… I've read them all."

"You're kidding me…" Anja was as surprised as Messner. It in turn surprised Maria. So, Anja really didn't know about her? All that talk the other day was simply to convince her to go along in that forsaken road trip?

The colonel, though, was now truly interested. To him that girl at his side was an oddity, albeit a fascinating one.

"And your father is a soldier?"

"Yes." Maria replied to Messner. "He was injured in the Eastern Front and cannot fight anymore, but he remains a soldier at heart."

"I see. Now that I think of it, are you related to Marco Nitzschmann by any chance?"

There was the question she'd heard so many times. Again, she did nothing to dismiss it.

"Yes. I'm his younger sister."

"Must be hard to be in the family of some SS scumbag, isn't that right?" Messner's grin was as honest as his irony. The question actually made Maria turn to face him, surprised, but not necessarily offended.

"_Herr_ _Oberst_, will you deliver me to the secret police now? I know I shouldn't know these things, but…" She went out of words, as nothing she could say would be able to convey her guilt.

Messner leaned forward, placing his elbows over his knees and entrancing his fingers in front of his face.

"Well, to be honest I'm in a predicament of my own. I don't know if you've been informed about it but the reason we had your tanks transferred to us is because our own tank squadron was destroyed during an air strike about a week ago. All of our tankers died or got injured that day. We needed replacements in both men and material. Unfortunately, instead of the men I requested I ended up with you."

Anja groaned, feeling a little insulted. On the other hand, Messner seemed somewhat amused with her reaction. He opened his arms while he gesticulated.

"To top it up, tomorrow, I'll have to lead an attack to the American positions nearby. I need tanks to form my center, but although now I have the vehicles, I still need crews. I could grab a few kids and tell them how to operate them, but that wouldn't end well in any scenario. The fact is that I need to have those tanks in the field, covering my grenadiers. And until the guys in High Command take their heads out of their asses and send me the men I need, you're all I have."

At this point, he dropped his arms, seeming very tired for a moment.

"Honestly, I'm begging you to fight for my men one more time."

"You…" Maria started to say something, but her voice trailed off right after.

"Maria?" Anja seemed worried, and even Messner leaned over her to listen better to her words. Maria inhaled deeply and tried to focus.

"I understand your point, _Herr_ _Oberst_." She finally managed to say. "But the decision to go isn't really mine or Königsberg's to make."

"Is that so?"

"Indeed. We need to ask our people what they want to do first. Then you'll have your answer."

Messner nodded, apparently understanding what she meant.

"Very well, sort it out in your way, then." He got up and walked out of the half-track, turning back at the girls while he donned his cap. "Just don't take too long."

And then he walked away, back to his other duties.

"You've really shown him."

Those words made Maria turn to face Anja. The other girl's face seemed to have lightened up for some reason, and she even managed to put on an honest smile.

"So you're really going through with this, after everything that happened?"

Anja's smile faded away as she assumed her serious expression once again.

"That's exactly why I'm going forth. Turning my back now would be making all that happened meaningless. We've made a difference there, you've seen it! We held the front when the Army didn't. We might actually contribute to the salvation of our country and to bring a better peace once this is over with."

As Maria remained silent she leaned back against the side of the cabin and kept talking. "You're right, you know? We should ask the rest of the gang what they want to do before we take our decision."

Maria nodded in return. Guilt and a certain lightheadedness were still there, but the trust that man was placing on them was actually doing something to tackle them down. Was that a sense of duty, or of purpose, perhaps?

"You really didn't know how I've learned about tanks?"

The other girl shrugged.

"No. I mean, you must have learned somehow, but I just thought I could use it to make you see my point concerning all of this."

"Your point?"

"Yes." Anja sighed. "I thought we would need you and I wasn't wrong. Without you, either we or these men would be dead by now. It would have been a bloodbath either way." She shrugged. "And how would I know about you and your father? Do you think I'm a psychic or something?"

The energetic way Anja had made that question actually made Maria chuckle, and Anja giggle in return. The two girls nodded at each other and Anja even reached for Maria and held her hand.


	11. Group Therapy

AUTHOR'S NOTES

The protagonist is usually the one to hold the weight of the world over the shoulders, even though if sometimes the role of the hero belongs to someone else. For a reason the author decided to make this person the focus of the voyage in store for the audience. This means the protagonist will be the one to truly see or feel the stakes at hand, and the emotional center of the whole story.

Emotion is truly the keyword here, because a story only works as much as it manages to create some sort of emotional response from the viewer. Will the audience wish for the warrior to win? Fear the monster preying the characters? Cry for the emotional breakdown of the one who did everything to succeed?

Thus the protagonist also carries the weight of the story itself. It's hard to be the eye of the storm and, strangely enough, the more we love our protagonists, the more we ask of them. And the more they have to endure.

* * *

XI

GROUP THERAPY

Ysabelle need a little extra persuasion to join the meeting. She kept insisting that they really should do something regarding the engine of one of the half-tracks. In her words, "who would pass the opportunity to work on a HL42 TRKM engine?"

Her enthusiasm was comprehensive, and maybe it was allowing her to cope with the recent trauma. But they had to have that discussion right now.

The group gathered around the _Panzer_ IV. For some reason they seemed to see the machine as the core of the squadron. One could imagine why, as it was easily the most powerful of their tanks, and the big scar in the front gave it the air of some grizzled veteran, eager for more enemy blood. An image that was immediately broken once one's eyes found the purple anglerfish painted in the side of the turret.

Maria stood upright besides Anja, looking over the group while everyone found their places. Erwin and his friends decided to sit on top of the _Panzer_'s turret, so they could have a vantage point over the girls, certainly something that was part of their exuberant teenage masculinity. Even so Tamara sat against the front wheel of the tank. For some reason she seemed to have already bounded quite well with the boys.

The M3's girls gathered in front of the tank, while Maria's own crew sat to their right. Ursel and Monica found a place in front of Tamara. Finally the remaining crew from the Type 89 was sitting near the tank's track. Tabea had her right arm strapped to her chest and bandages around her head and shoulder.

Maria still looked around, her eyes scoping the technicians verifying the vehicles and some troopers who leaned against a nearby wall to watch the meeting. It took her a moment to realize no one else was coming.

She could feel the empty space in the crowd.

"Very well, girls," Anja began, before noticing what was wrong in her sentence, "and boys… There's something we need to discuss and that's why we're having this meeting."

She moved from one foot to the other, noticing she was getting slightly nervous. Deep inside Anja didn't want to face more empty spaces in group meetings, but, on the other hand, she also felt someone had to stood up and defend the country, right?

So, she proceeded to explain the general outline of what Messner had told her and Maria.

"That's what's going on," Anja said in the end, "they need the tanks and the crews, and if we help them we might manage to achieve their goals and even spare some soldier's lives in the process. More importantly, we might gain precious time for our people to get to safety before the invaders move on. Nitzschmann and I have already agreed on doing this, but we realize we cannot force you into it, so we want to know what your thoughts are."

Anja looked at all the eighteen faces in front of her. They were all somber and thoughtful. She allowed them to stay like that for a while and then decided they should move on with it.

She glanced at the boys on top of the tank.

"So, what do you want to do?"

Erwin and his friends looked at each other and turned back at Anja.

"Well, you see… You were right. They've conscripted us already. A _haptmann_ gave us some papers to sign." He shrugged. "We don't have much of a choice now. Given that, I would prefer to stay with you girls."

The other boys nodded in agreement. From her position in the floor, Tamara pointed at Erwin.

"I'll stay with them." She declared. "They can't do anything without me, anyhow."

Erwin leaned to glance at her. "Very well, I'll tolerate you in my tank, then!"

"It isn't really a tank, you know?" Tamara spat back at him with a sardonic smile on her face. The blonde young man simply pouted and crossed his arms.

"Don't make me regret my glorious command decision…"

The banter made Anja and some of the other girls chuckle a little. Then she turned at the M3's crew.

"What about you?"

"Does this means we'll have to go meet the men who are trying to kill us again?" Karina Schumacher yelped, terrified with the perspective.

Anja shook her head. "Only if you decide to came with us."

The four girls of Rabbit Team went silent, Karina and Jule sobbing a little.

"We-we..." Augusta, the commander, spoke so suddenly it startled everyone. "We're doing this for the Fatherland, right? For our parents, our families, and friends… To gain the military command time to do something about the invasion?"

"That's pretty much it."

"I see… Count me in, then."Augusta leaned back and looked Anja right in the eye. "I'll do it."

The gunner, Saskia, also decided to stay, as well as Jule, although she hesitated longer than the others. Only Karina was left.

"I really don't want to." Her eyes were wet and it was evident that she would prefer to go back. So Augusta offered her the way out.

"You don't need to stay, Karina. We understand."

The poor girl covered her face with her hands, now crying uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry!"

"It's all right." Augusta embraced her and allowed her to stay like that, sobbing in silence. It was evident that she was already broken and unable to endure any more fighting.

"Karina…" The thought crossed Anja's mind that if everyone else decided to follow suit and quit she would be left with barely two crews to make do. That would limit dramatically the squadron's potential.

Well, Anja would accept her words. The Boxer truck was now parked outside the motor pool, waiting to be returned to Baderberg. Surely Karina would have no problems driving it back there. Anyway, Anja still needed to know what the others wanted to do. She turned to the _Panzer _IV's crew.

"You?"

The first to speak was Hanna, presenting Maria a supportive smile.

"I'll follow _Fräulein_ Nitzschmann. I trust she will lead us to great things."

"You will?" Simone exclaimed. "Then I'll be damned if I let you two alone! I'm in!"

Behind her Ysabelle stood on her knees, clasping her hands enthusiastically.

"I'll follow commander Nitzschmann, too!"

Those words truly shocked Maria. Were those girls really willing to stay there in hell just because they saw her as their friend? It shocked her so much she simply stood there, staring at them.

The last crewmember, Meike, seemed more uneasy. She folded her legs against her chest, embracing them while her gaze focused on the tips of her shoes.

"You're in?" Anja insisted.

"Can I have some time to think this through?" The black-haired girl asked.

"No you cannot. No-one else here has that luxury, Reinhard. Make your decision."

Meike shook her head. It was evident that she felt to have seen enough war for a lifetime. But, then again, it didn't felt right to abandon the others like that.

"I'm in, I'm in!" She spat, although unsteadily. For Anja it was enough for the moment.

"You two?" She asked to Monica and Ursel.

"Well, I'm kind of fearful that you might not know what to do without us around." Monica told her. "Anyway, what do we have to lose by this point?"

"I agree with her." Ursel declared. "We're in."

And now only three were left. Anja was actually fearful of what they could say, that was why she'd left them for last. But there was no point in avoiding it, so she made the survivors from Duck Team the same question she gave everyone else.

"And you, girls? What do you want to do?"

There was a slight delay in their reply. It wasn't hard to see why. Anke and Tabea especially still had those empty expressions in their faces. Losing her friend and having been that close to death had let them behaving like shadows of their former selves. Tabea moved her injured arm aimlessly, and then she turned to Anja, apparently too tired to even talk.

"I can't…" She mumbled. Her tone and general behavior made almost everyone around her shiver, realizing some wounds were much worse than those inflicted upon the flesh.

Beside her Anke simply shook her head, unable to utter a single word. That left Constanze, who was the one in better shape of the three. The fact that she was knocked unconscious when the Type 89 was hit had spared her of the worst of what followed. While her shell-shocked friends gave their feeble replies to Anja's question, Constanze was looking at Karina, still crying in Augusta's arms.

"Kaulitz? What's your reply?"

Anja's insistence made her turn to face the leader. She blinked once and nodded.

"Count me in."

That was it. Almost everyone had decided to stay for the long run. With luck tomorrow's battle would be the very last one, anyhow. The quitters would return to Baderberg that same day, with Karina on the wheel as the others couldn't do much by themselves at the moment.

"Thank you all, my friends." Anja told the group. "Your dedication is commendable, and I believe that we will make a good figure of ourselves tomorrow, regardless of what others may think. We've survived the fire once, and we can perfectly do it again! To the others, I understand your decision and thank you for what you've already done."

Then she turned to Maria. "There's one last thing I would like to say. I would like to hereby relinquish my command to _Fräulein_ Nitzschmann."

That surprised everyone. Even Erwin, who was fiddling with his hat, dropped it when he heard the declaration.

"What are you saying, Königsberg?" Maria was probably among those most shocked by the news. "You've led us until now, and… I'm not ready for such a responsibility."

"Nonsense!" Anja shook her index finger in front of her face. "You're much better prepared for what we'll be facing from now on than I will ever be! I've seen how you reacted when we needed a plan back in the other night, and how you've led us during the fight. There's no-one else here better qualified to lead this squadron than you!"

The odd silence that followed those words was abruptly interrupted by Ysabelle's excitement.

"Oh, my! This is so right!" She was shaking her closed fists frantically in the air, her face the epitome of pure joy. "Marco Nitzschmann's sister commanding her own tank squadron! And we're here to live through this!"

Around them the other girls started commenting the fact between them. They all agreed, it made sense to have Maria on the lead. After all, if someone knew what would take to keep them all alive it would be her.

Maria looked around, to all of those faces, seemingly much more relieved now that they knew she was the leader. That was a lot of trust placed on her shoulders.

"I'll accept, then." She said. "Thank you for your confidence."

Anja patted her shoulder.

"I'm not going anywhere, though. I'll be here to ensure you won't do anything inappropriate, _Führerin _Nitzschmann."

"All right then." Maria smiled at her. It was funny, just a few days ago she couldn't really be certain if she should trust that girl, and now there she was, putting her own life in her hands. That was a commitment she would have to honor to the full of her abilities. And the same went with all the other girls and boys who were now part of the squadron.

Atop the _Panzer_ IV, Erwin accepted his hat from Tamara, and raised a hand.

"What is it, Morgenstern?" Anja asked him. Although Maria was now the leader anything regarding that annoying kid was still under Anja's responsibility, it seemed.

"One important thing," Erwin said, "what is our battle cry?"

"Battle cry?"

"Yeah! No honorable combat unit can go around without its own battle cry! I would like to know which will be ours."

The other boys agreed vehemently with him. The girls didn't seem to be all that concerned with the idea. Even so it was one of them, Simone, who came with a proposal.

"Well, if you're really worried about that, then what about _Panzer Vor_!"

It couldn't be, that was simply too silly given the circumstances! Maria let out a long chuckle. She couldn't actually tell why, but the whole idea seemed incredibly funny to her.

"All right, I agree with you!" She said when she finally managed to catch her breath. "If everyone agrees I'll make this my first official decision as a leader of the Baderberg _Panzer_ Squadron." She coughed to be back of her hand. "Our official battle cry should hereby be '_Panzer Vor_'!"

She chuckled again after saying that, as did many of the girls. They looked at each other, and even embraced those who would leave and go back to Baderberg. Erwin had had a great idea, and Maria's decision had given the newly-formed squadron something to unite around. Then most of the group raised their fists and yelled at full lungs:

PANZER VOR!

The grenadiers and technicians nearby could only guess what was up with that.


End file.
